as inspired by souleMama; one photo from our week, no words, only an image to sum up our time as a family. one that captures a moment in time and is a visual reminder of where we were at this time in our lives.
we have all officially survived bear’s first year of school.
here are a few pictures from his last day with his best bud and his awesome teacher’s! we love them all so much!
woohoo, summer!!!
i would love it if you left a link to your { this moment }.
sometimes, a mini vacation is just what i need to re-charge my batteries, get my head in order and just relax with family.
we went up to the cottage with our dear bubba & patty. the kids had a fantastic time playing in the water, swinging on the new tire swing, collecting sticks n’ things, making smores, sleeping in (wait, no that didn’t happen), and just having a jolly fun time! If you are interested in having a cottage vacation, you can find a great range of self catering holiday cottages in Silverdale or somewhere more local to you!
to our dismay, the cottage (or mansion worth $3 million) next door to us was purchased by a very wealthy person, who has now built an even bigger mansion worth at least $10, 000, 000!!! it’s not so much the value of the new “cottage” that us disturbing, but it’s the destruction they are doing on the natural environment that is heartbreaking. they have cut down massive swaths of trees on theIR property, which has in turn caused terrible erosion on their hillside land. everything about this mansion is custom and extreme to the max. the windows and doors are all bigger than anything you would find at home depot! they are creating a water feature about the same size in width as the cottage itself, with a waterfall, a river and a pool. this confuses me, BECAUSE THE PROPERTY IS ON A LAKE!
the new neighbours will not be moving in this summer, maybe not even next, as construction on such a massive scale takes years. all day, everyday the dirt road was busy with catering trucks feeding the workers, various pic-up trucks and vans driving back and forth… the dust was insane!
and then, one day we came back from town to this in front of our drive way…
a huge digger being transferred onto a flatbed, to be taken away. yes, this was a five year old’s dream, so we stood there and watched as the worker drove the digger on there, and then chained the huge piece of equipment on. but, it wasn’t really what we had hoped as our lion was napping in the car!
but, that being said we did have a great time boozing, snoozing, playing games, canoeing and hooping! the cottage has decades and decades of family memories in it, and being up there is always so amazing!
eating outside is one of my favourite things to do at the cottage!
a dear friend and her darling daughter came for a visit, so we went out on the row boat.
the boys love the water up here.
went into rosseau. played on the bouncy castle and at the beach.
dear hubby and bubba put up a tire swing.
i got back into hooping! everyone had a turn!
us adults had many boozy nights with a lotta laughs and all sorts of shenanigans!
oh, the cottage life!
happiness!
some of the pics are taken with my phone so that’s why the quality looks different.
HAPPY HUMP DAY EVERYONE!
easter has come and gone. we had a fantastic weekend, with friends and family, and the sun decided to join us in all its glory, as well!
we started good friday at home with chocolate filled croissants and an easter table with all sorts fun, colourful things for the boys to look at.
then we we walked to the park. there is a super fun easter egg hunt that happens at the park up the road from us. we went and joined over a hundred other kids and their families. neighbourhood volunteers had about a thousand easter eggs hidden all over… plastic eggs with all sorts of wonderful treasures hidden inside.
we spent the rest of the weekend with my folks. the men and women separated on saturday. the guys went to a huge park in town, and saw llama’s out for a walk with their keepers! my mum and i went to the one of a kind craft sale in the city. it was such a nice time with just my mum, away from the kids and the chaos they bring.
the sun was so warm on the weekend. we spent hours and hours outside soaking up the rays and the warmth! the boys really loved it! my mum had a beautiful easter table set with delicious food, which we all enjoyed a lot!
our weekend was fun and spring like, filled with so much laughter and joy, that it’s hard to get back into the routine of things!
hope you enjoyed your long weekend!
lillian at it’s a dome life sent me this questionnaire i’ve been working on it for a while. for some reason i had difficulty answering many of these questions…. anyhow, i am what i am.
” by michael rosen and illustrated by quentin blake. had to buy it!
has always been a fave, although it’s been over 10 years since i read it. last winter i read, “the book of negroes” by lawrence hill
and it changed me. all north americans, especially, should have to read this.
19. What is your least favourite thing about yourself. i am too sensitive and take everything to heart.
ok, and i passing this questionnaire to FIVE other bloggers. new blogs i have discovered and people i would like to know a little more about… mrs. fun, first time mom, the artful mama, kristin, and heather.
last weekend we had a beautiful long weekend up at the cottage with good friends. there was heaps of snow, super cold temperatures dipping down to close to -30c at night and warming up to about -15c during the day, and a lack of running water! that meant we got to use an out house, which with those temps was kinda cold on the tushie! but, the kids were brave and did it; it was us adults who needed more encouragement! for drinking we bring big jugs of water from home and for dishes we melt snow, but because there is electricity it’s not as bad or difficult as some may think. and there is a beautiful fire for cozies and warmth!
it’s a super fun adventure!
we tobogganed for hours, went for a long walk up the road, the kids played all sorts of games, we ate tons of yummy food and us adults had a roaring good time after the kids went to sleep!
i took a gazillion pics, so instead of posting them all i made this wee movie.
ENJOY! CELEBRATE!
and, as usual we were the last family to leave and as usual we got stuck. this time, it wasn’t slippery conditions, but a dead car battery. but, CAA arrived quickly and we were on the road after lunch!
can’t wait to do it all again!
the rules for the Versatile Blogger:
as inspired by souleMama; one photo from our week, no words, only an image to sum up our time as a family. one that captures a moment in time and is a visual reminder of where we were at this moment.
please, feel free to leave a link from your moment this week. i’d love to see what you’ve been up to!
i was awarded this award by the lovely and hilarious kari, at a gracefull life. a big thanks to her and go read about her life over at her blog.
the rules:
1. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.
2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.
3. Choose 11 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them about the award.
5. No tag backs.
11 random facts about me:
1. i have an extra bone in my arch of each foot. they are each the size of a pea.
2. i love winter.
3. i am a book snob.
4. i got my driver’s license 4 years ago. (i was just 30.)
5. i am bilingual in english and finnish.
6. i am sarcastic
7. i am a capricorn.
8. i drink coffee like a 16 year old girl. cream and sugar, yes please!
9. i try to support local everything. sometimes it’s tricky, sometimes it’s easy!
10. i am halfway through my women’s studies degree. thinking about returning to uni in the fall.
11. i enjoy being creative.
kari’s questions for me:
1. Fave website: bear & lion, and the weather network.
2. Fave song: “promise” tracy chapman
3. Fave ice cream flavour: hagen daaz, rocky road.
4. Fave pizza topping: mushrooms
5. Fave blogger: i have a long list of faves; one for each mood, food craving and craft project!
6. Fave Twitter friend: this is too tough…
7. Fave blogging subject: how i suck as a mama! haha! my search for my best myself.
8. Fave holiday: x-mas
9. Fave concert you have ever been to: definitely the beastie boys!!!
10. Fave city: helsinki. overflowing with culture, art, good food, fun times and it’s home.
11. Fave restaurant: gusto, the albion and the greenroom. all in my current hometown.
my questions for my recipients and i am following kari’s idea of one word answers! quick n’ easy! let’s play!
1. fave flower:
2. fave colour:
3. fave season:
4. if you could have dinner with anyone dead, who would it be:
5. fave vacation destination:
6. how many hours do you sleep a night:
7. how many hours do you spend blogging a day:
8. fave chore:
9. which do you prefer to drive, standard or automatic:
10. fave book:
11. least fave kinda music:
my 11 liebster award recipients are:
(puh-lease go check out these blogs, the point of these awards is to introduce new, interesting blogs to others!)
this list is compromised of bloggers who have been friendly on twitter, come my blog and left comments or advice, and or blogs i generally like to read and follow.
1. lillian at it’s a dome life
2. jen at life on the SONnyside
3. kelly at de bie hive
4. dani at suburbia interrupted
5. mama at live. lafe. love.
6. a mama at giggles & screams
7. sarah at sadder but wiser girl
8. samantha at this heart of mine
9. kelly at kelly naturally
10. michelle at michelle mossey
11. mandi at all my happy endings
and done. phew.
that was a lot of wok, but well worth it!
my son is very particular about his birthday cakes. he chooses and plans what he wants and then DH and i are in charge of making these wishes come into fruition. luckily for us, bear’s wishes are not outrageous or complicated. in fact, they’re adorably simple. for his third birthday he wanted a car cake. for his fourth birthday, he wanted a triangle cake.
and, this year for his 5th birthday he wanted a chirp cake, as in chirp the wee yellow bird from chirp magazine.
each month the magazine is complied together with a theme. one month it was BIRTHDAYS and there was a recipe for a chirp cake. bear saw it and immediately came running to me excitedly saying that that was the cake he wanted. we tweaked it a little; instead of donuts for eyes we used a puddle of icing and plopped blueberries for the pupils. we used dried pear slices for the beak. and the inside was yummy, egg free carrot cake. delish!!!
the kid was so happy, delighted and proud. he and lion actually worked hard with dear hubby with the mixing of all of those ingredients. i love that the kids are so eager to be involved!
WELCOME TO BIRTHDAY WEEK!
on sunday, my bear had a birthday party for his 5th birthday. he insisted that no adults were allowed except for dear hubby and myself, and all four grandparents. so that’s what we did, a drop off party. i was a little nervous and skeptical that it would work, but another mum had recommended it and since bear really wanted to do it, i figured why not.
the party was short, two hours. the plan was to let the guests trickle in, but they all arrived promptly at 11am! that meant party time! the kids played, while i made some fruit kabobs and cream cheese wraps. then dear hubby had them play a few rounds of pin the tail on the donkey, then it was lunch time, and then cake time!
after devouring the carrot cake the kids played again for a bit, and then it was present time! and then, again the parents arrived promptly and the party was over! for any parent considering hosting a drop off party… DO IT! for us as hosts, it was easier as we didn’t have to feed as many people, and i wasn’t trying to catch up with a friend while trying to organize the kids as well. i actually had several opportunities to sit and chat with my folks, drink coffee and just watch as the kids played. We did look into bouncy castle hire with the intention of having some inflatables as we knew the kids would love this, but we decided that it wouldn’t be safe having one at a drop off party. It would be too much pressure for me and the hubby to make sure all the kids were safe on the inflatables and still manage everthing else we had to do for the party.
the kids themselves were so well behaved. there was no fighting, no shenanigans of any kind; they followed directions, ate nicely, chatted amongst themselves and were super adorable, quite frankly!
we made an amazing cake that i will post about in another entry. and, i will share what we did for loot bags this year in another post.
THIS IS BIRTHDAY WEEK!
bear is turning five on valentine’s day and i’m building up to my letter that i wrote to him for this special occasion.
