December

December... days are getting longer so that's something to be excited about! Let me see what's been happening around here.. Well, Braydon and Luke are playing together a lot lately! I love watching the two of them.. That is the old wall picture I picked up at the flea market and transformed it into a chalkboard.

Vintage inspiration

I have this ever growing love for fabric, ruffles, frills, anything handmade. ;). No I am not a perfectionist but it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful in my eyes. When I see something I like, I give it a shot and will make my pattern as I go along if I need to, which was the case again this time.. Inspiration for this vintage bolero came from this shop on Etsy : http://www.etsy.com/shop/bonzie?section_id=5775790 ...love, love her shop. Since I think fabric lately, I couldn't help but wonder what it would look like on a necklace, so yes I had to try it! :) I love it actually.


Winter might not be so bad after all with my growing list of "have to try it" projects..haha. My goal is to sew more of my own skirts, and dresses and winter is the perfect time to work on summer dresses.. :)
necklace #2. ruffle pillow, thread.=)

Fort Whyte

We enjoy going to this place.We don't even have to leave the city.hahah It's so close by yet so much space for the boys and they have a blast there. This time our main reason was to see the geese on the lakes. Ok fine, and to take lots of pictures.



This group of pictures makes me happy. :)

Lots and lots of geese!

chewy granola bars!

Yup they're homemade...and soooo yummy. I finally stumbled upon a recipe that I absolutely love and so do my boys. Since I had all the ingredients, I offered to make them for a snack for those who work at the meeting hall this weekend. There's so much work to do, but this was about the only way I can be part of it as I have two little ones hanging around me most of the day.:) Aren't the wraps adorable? ;) I'm sure I could sell the bars too.

Evening with my nieces

I had never taken the time to practice my photography on Eliz's daughters, so it was a must. :) Gorgeous gals she has! Enjoy..

Family evening

We went to Fort Whyte Alive, took a walk on the trails. Probably not a good idea to let Braydon push the stroller on the boardwalk..can you tell I look scared?? ha After that we went to the thunder rapids with Franco and Doris and their children. Daddy thoroughly enjoyed taking Braydon around the track. :) I think Braydon enjoyed it but he seemed quite serious the whole time..haha

My handsome boys...

Luke is 1 !! (bday aug 25th)

My baby not so baby anymore.. The first year of having Luke seemed sooo busy but now I see myself slow down a wee bit except that the house is messier than ever..haha..I guess that shows they're playing lots. Still not having much opportunity with painting with 2 boys on my heels but the time will come.
Luke was not feeling well on his birthday and his eyes were swollen. I still want to take him out for his 1st Bday pictures, but the mosquitos are soo bad still and it's the 2nd week in September! Not complaining about the awesome weather though..hehe..Here's my baby with the little tweetie bird cake I made for him.. :)

Very difficult to get a 1 year old to look at the camera long enough to grab a shot, but yay this time it worked. I might've cropped this picture, but other than that I have not touched it.. I loved how his eyes turned out soo blue.. ;)

Mother and Daughters

Yay for 7 sisters...and sister-in-laws or in this case sister-in-law because only Doris was around! We went out for a lovely dinner. It was too chilly for a July evening, but was still nice. :) We don't get to do that very often. (Sorry for almost taking your head off in that one picture, Annie!)

Strawberries!

What's summer without strawberries?! Every summer Eddy and I will go picking berries together but this time we went with more family. That was fun. I adore these pictures of Grandma and Braydon. Grandma showing him how to eat the berry. Luke ate so many berries..heh..


Chocolate dipped strawberries!

Summer in our backyard

Eddy prepared a big area behind the garage and filled it up with pebble stones. Braydon and Luke have played hours in there this past summer. It was a hit!

Yay we got to have a monday family supper at our house. We really enjoyed it so much. I liked how grandpa was enjoying his grandchildren that evening.:)

With such a wet and cool summer, we decided we wouldn't get a big pool for the boys, so on the few hot days I filled the little pool..hehe.. better than nothing right? In the back you can see my tomato plants (we're already enjoying its fruit!) and Belize blueberries or huckleberries or bilberries whatever you wanna call them.. (hah Annie).lets see if we'll get to pick them before winter comes.Oh and berry plants are taller than me now. It must be rich soil.

Braydon's 3rd Birthday!

I thought it was about time to update my blog.hah.. It's September but Braydon's Birthday was on June 28th!
A very simple decorated cake for my 3 year old. He was thrilled that his cousins Joshua and Sienna came to eat cake with him.hehe.

Yes it was my birthday too!

7 wonderful years!

7 Wonderful years together!! :)

I can't believe we've been married that long! heh.. My love brought me 7 roses (yes, he drove to get them.. and he's not supposed to drive. It didn't even cross my mind that he would get flowers.. he said he needed to go to the bank which he did as well, but the main reason was to bring flowers.. aww.. I forgive him.) In the evening we dropped the boys off at mom and dad's so we could go out for dinner... Dinner was lovely. 529 Wellington.. We didn't know the price for their foods before we went..hahaha We'll never go back! If you feel rich go. It's a nice place and the best steaks ever... :)

It's summer :)

It's summer and I love our yard and the flowers that we have this year. I'm sure we'll be adding more each summer. It looks much better than last year! The boys love being outside which gives me the opportunity to clean flowerbeds or weed my little garden.. I will have to upload a picture of the garden sometime..It's really small but perfect for me. I might get overwhelmed if it was any bigger. hehe..

I wanted to do these for the longest time.. :) Some thrift store fabric, made into little sacks. I love fabrics!

Food!

Food is beautiful. I want to make the foods I cook more attractive.. heh. My men might enjoy it more. ;)


A couple weeks ago we had lots of people over for supper and evening. I spent all afternoon cooking because I didn't want it to be too simple! We had wings.. oh so yum. My new favourite wings, but we shall not have them a lot unless they will be grilled or baked..It kind of grosses me out when they've been drenched in oil.haha














The salad was good but I omitted the fennel in the end. Maybe next time I'll add it.



















Yay for fresh strawberries:)



















Cast iron has become my favourite for cooking. My non-stick never last long because I don't treat them too well plus they release bad chemicals when overheated..not too friendly!

Peter's Grad

I went to Peter's grad about a week ago. It wouldn't have been right if he didn't have any pictures from his grad. Besides, it was nice to be free from my little children for a few hours. :) Little big brother...

Bathtime!

They love having their baths together. They're usually happy, so that's the time to grab the camera! A very rare moment for them to both look at the camera at the same time...and smiling. Perfect! I thought maybe I should start putting a watermark on some my pictures. A watermark on some of my pics now, simply because they're mine and don't want others to steal them.

I haven't been updating my blog for such a long time. I'm not getting too much done besides taking care of all my boys. :) Well, photoshop has been down for some time, and it's finally back up.. yay!
So I went to some garage sales last Saturday, found some awesome old books! The inside of the cover has some amazing detail...I have the perfect spot in my kitchen to display them as well..
The other picture is of a little doll blanket I made for Sienna.. I plan on being her favourite auntie! haha..I have soooo many fabric scraps, so if you want anything made from scraps, let me know---that is if I find any time for stuff like it.. Next on my to do list is to finish a blog header for my sister Annie! That's it for today........

My Monday

7:45 AM I am awakened by my 2 year old... "mommy i'm wet". Into the bathroom we go to change a stinky diaper. Next it's " I want cispy wice". I prepare that and let him eat while I go feed Luke and change a stinky diaper. I come back to the kitchen, and off we go back to change another diaper on the big boy... we've only been up for 20 minutes!
I call mom and ask if it's ok I drop the boys off for 9 o'clock while I go to my massage appt. Yay that's awesome... For 1 hr I have no worries.
10:30 AM "mommy I want waffin"(waffles). Off I go to make waffles, from scratch.. Anything to get him to eat cuz he's had a stomach bug since thursday morning. "Braydon, the waffle iron is hot, careful". A moment later, "OW!" Yup, it's turning into a blister. On goes a bandaid and lots of kisses. He doesn't eat much of the waffles so I save it for later.
11:00 AM Starting to make lunch but Eddy says we can pick up lunch on our way while we do errands and drop him off at work. How sweet of him I won't resist. The counters are filled with dirty dishes anyway, I really don't feel like cooking. I sit down on the couch holding Braydon in my lap. Why don't I do that more often? A little later I tell him, "You can watch mighty machines, Braydon. Lie down on the couch with your blankets." He falls asleep. That's great he needs his rest.
Yes I should wash the dishes, but I want to sit at the laptop because the house is fairly quiet.I had a restless night after all I need to relax.
12:30 Pick up timmy's coffee and a light lunch and off we go on errands with the whole family! We see a bedroom suite( a really good deal!..$599. but we're not sure. We'll think about it for a bit. Next we let Eddy go check out a phone and I wait in the car with the boys.. "Braydon careful, you're almost dumping your waffles" (he never finished them at home). He looks at his waffles, a minute later,"mommy, i dumped waffles".. that's just great. If only I had been quiet in the first place.
2:00 pm. Dropping Eddy off at work, that was not so bad. Time to go home... wait, gotta pick up chicken while I'm sort of driving past the store. Thankfully I can park right close to the door and no i am not taking the boys inside. I just lock the doors. I come back and baby's screaming cuz he's soo tired. "we're almost home, Luke, almost home". Braydon in his sweet voice also tries to calm baby but he just cries till he falls asleep. I look in the rearview mirror, see Braydon, and he flashes me one of those sweet smiles and my eyes take a picture of that smile and no one can steal that from me. I sing the rest of the way home. (almost).
Almost 3 PM . Both boys go for a nap! It's quiet... I look at the kitchen counters...... but I really should go for a nap while they're sleeping. I lie down hoping the counters will be clean when i get up.
It's 4 pm! I bet Elizabeth is already at mom's (monday night dinners at mom and dad's). Luke just woke up, but I'm waiting for Braydon. They both need a bath! It's now or at 9 pm... I can't do it at 9... Luke goes into the tub but Braydon refuses. I don't want to force him because he still doesn't feel too well.
5 o clock .. Get to mom's house! I can breathe again.. It's a wonderful place to be. Good food, fun family.
8:30 pm Braydon doesn't want to go home. Grandma says he can stay for the night. So I kiss him goodnight and go home. I feed Luke, snuggle with him and listen to his baby talk.
9 pm- Luke is tucked away all cozy in his bed. ---The house is quiet--- I look at the kitchen counters again....nope the dishes can wait till tomorrow. I am exhausted and glad's it's the end of the day, but I am happy to be a mother!

A clean house? Someday. For now I want my children to feel loved and cared for...I want to see them happy and I am learning to let go of some selfishness. (no I'm not proud of a dirty house but with 2 very energetic boys, they need mommy so much. I want to see the toys all over the house, because that's a sign that they were playing! Braydon's been sick since thursday, and the basement is too tidy. He has not played in there since Friday. He has had diahrrea till today and still complains about tummy ache and looks quite weak. I've heard the word mommy more over the past few days than I would over a couple weeks time. Yes it made me tired but I love him to pieces. :) It's 10 PM, my honey will be home soon...Goodnight!

Spring '08

So I thought I would try to keep a bit of a journal online. Will see how goes.
I figured I would start with this picture because of how I named my blog. ... down a dreamy lane.. and because it is spring and we miss Nova Scotia!
Braydon almost 2 years old in the apple orchard. We packed a picnic and enjoyed a most lovely evening strolling through the orchard.