the little things

her first sleep away camp..

Well, we made it through!  A week of sleep away camp, well.. four nights, it seemed like forever to me.. and not long enough for her!

Here she is, walking ahead with her daddy and her brother.. while I held back and soaked it all in.. managing not to cry.. too happy for her to cry!  Totally surprised myself, I was worried I would cry like a baby. hee!  She has wanted to do this for years, and this year.. we finally let her.  

She was in horse camp heaven!  We suited her up with some new riding boots and 'cowgirl' clothes before hand.. including this adorable hat, which sadly got lost somewhere along the way.  Out of all the things she *thought* she lost (camera and her Toms shoes) ..I suppose 1 out of 3 isn't too bad. ha ha! 

Luckily she did find her camera, which is loaded with pictures from a nine year olds point of view (including an awesome artistic shot of lost hat hee!).. loooove!  I am so glad I conquered my own fears about her going to camp, and took the lead from her on this one.. it is and will continue to be an amazing experience for her! ..she is already counting down the time until next summer!

But YAY, we did it.. we managed, and like Laine said "I realized just how much I missed you when I saw you come in the door!" ..likewise my dear... all of those emotions hit me when I walked through those doors to pick her up and bring her home! 

Anybody else have little (or not so little) ones off at sleep away summer camp this year? Do you find they seem a little more grown up and a little more independent when they do finally get home? *sniff sniff* hee!

procrastination.. over!

My mission for today and tomorrow.. the pantry.

Our pantry started off beautifully when we moved into this house.. it was actually my mom who is responsible, she organized everything into baskets.. jars, you name it.. it felt like a little store when you walked into it.  It was glorious.

Then it became this.. for which I am responsible.  It is a disaster.

So sorry mom.  I promise to restore it to it's organized glory.  The shelves actually aren't that bad, just needs a little tweaking, we have restocked our pantry since moving in.. so things are stuck here and there... but the 'bones' of that organizing is still good.  See mom, not all of your hard work has been buried in mess.

It is actually what is below the shelves that concerns me.

Oh my gosh.. no words.

I had this vision of a row of wooden crates along the bottom/floor.. full of the kids craft supplies.  Easy for them to pull out to use at the kitchen table.. should be great right? Well.. time to make it a reality.  We have been here since March and the only thing unpacked is their crayon jar.. only because it was never really packed in the first place! The colouring books you see here are new ($1 each at Michaels!!).. cardstock came from my stash.. the box is full, and there is another box and bag downstairs.. waiting to see the the light of day once again.

Today.

I found these bins and baskets at Winners.. I still hope to grab a wooden crate or two to mix in.. but these should hold the bulk of their craft stuff... and play food etc.

It is a wonderful pantry.. huuuuge, and a walk-through from the garage door.. which is just genius in my opinion.  If you can walk through it that is.. it is kind of like an obstacle course these days..

So.. why am I blogging this?  To hold myself accountable so I actually get it done!  Those bins.. been sitting there for over a week already.  Plus.. summer vacation is finally here.. and seems to be the month of never ending rain, so we need some crafting time darn it!

A few months ago, James and I got ambitious and made a 'family organization centre' on the one wall.  With a basket for incoming mail.. chalk board for grocery list.. bulletin board for newsletters etc... oh my gosh, I can only bring myself to share this one picture..

That is supposed to be just 'incoming mail' ..you know, where it all goes before it gets dealt with and filed properly.  OUT.OF.CONTROL ..seriously ...seriously!??

Must come up with a system.. maybe make it a late night project and open up one of those bottles of wine up on the top shelf!? ha ha!

OK.. going in... NOW!  ..wish me luck.. ;) 

crazy boy

This boy is four now.  To me, that is just nuts.. it was just yesterday that he was my little baby.  Right?

This boy is a dare devil.

This boy likes to glide his run bike down the driveway in the pouring rain, and splash in the puddles at the bottom.

This boy has his mom standing at the bottom of the driveway (in the pouring rain) to make sure he doesn't glide right onto the road.

This boy got a bike with training wheels for his birthday.. but still likes to pull this one out of the garage so he can just ..gliiiiide. 

This boy was soaked.

This boy has dimples.. that can scare me to death and melt my heart in the same instant..

This boy is trouble. 

This boy, at the age of four.. has me scared to death (see a recurring theme here?) of the the stunts he is going to pull when he is a teenager.. since he will likely grow up to love motorized toys as much as his daddy.

This boy keeps me on my toes.

This boy can glide on his run bike all he wants.. cause it means that he is indeed still only four.

*sigh*

purging (step one.. talking the talk ha ha!)

Since moving, I have had this urge to purge.. go through everything and get rid of the junk we don't use.. or even worse... didn't even remember that we had.  It became really obvious which things fell into this category during the packing and unpacking stages.  Seriously, we have too much crap.  I need to simplify, get rid of excess.. 

I see a garage sale coming on!  Those are so much work though aren't they?  Are they worth it?  

Example.. the pile of cardstock on the right, keeping for me... the pile on the left, going into the kids' craft stash!  I know.. not really purging, as in getting it out of the house, but repurposing for a better use (because honestly, some of those colours only a kid could love heee!).. but this is an example of the 'excess' I was talking about.. how on earth did I end up with this much cardstock!? 

We have dozens of boxes and bags of stuff down in the basement that we haven't even thought of unpacking yet.. do I miss it?  No.  Do I know what is down there?  No.  Some of it is indeed for the basement when it is finished.. but some boxes got sent down there because we just didn't want to deal with them.. and I don't think I have missed a single bit of it in our day to day living.  

Garage sale.. or online classifieds.. donate!?  What to do what do!?  Maybe a bit of all three options?  

Now to find the motivation!  Is it the season?  Spring cleaning?  Anyone else feeling the need to simplify?  Anyone else crazy enough to go through the process of a garage sale? ha ha ha! ;)

To be continued (??? lol)...

today..

Eeeeeek!

James came home for lunch a little while ago, only to open the door seeing me standing there grinning ear to ear.. with a bit of a terrified look on my face I am sure!  Why?  

Because I was standing there in these..

(oh my gosh!!! heee!)

SO COOL, right!?  This is my Mother's Day present from James and the kids.. within seconds of them coming in the mail today, I had them on my feet! hee!  Within seconds of that, I thought to myself.. "oh my, these are going to lead to a serious injury!" ha ha!

James took me (and totally surprised me by the way) on Mother's Day to get them, but they didn't have the right size.  So, in the end, we ordered them from Roller Girl.. and they came today!!  

So so so bad ass! hee! ;)

I have wanted a pair of roller skates for sooooo long, but living out in the country it just seemed silly, but we live in town now and have paved roads!! hee!

Best surprise ever! ..now to go pick up some protective gear ha ha! ;)

oh oh.. that doesn't look right...

No no no.. this definitely is not part of the little tour of the house!  But a gooder of a story anyway! ;)  It goes something like this..

Harley: "Can I have a bath in mommy and daddy's bathroom?"

James: ..(after taking time to consider.. because 'first soak' in the en suite tub was to be a romantic one ..possibly even later that evening) "Yeah, sure why not?" ..train of thought was likely along the lines of, both kids bathing at once.. bedtime comes sooner! ha ha

Me: Laying on Harley's bed doing nothing because for whatever reason that seemed like a good idea. ha ha

Laine: Getting out of her own bath.. comes to chat with me in Harley's room.

James and Harley: We can hear them getting out of the tub.. and chatting about bedtime.

Me: "Laine, did you leave the water running in the tub?"

Laine: "No"

Me: "Can you go check?" ..hearing running somewhere water somewhere!  Yes, I am still just laying on the bed at this point! ???

Her: ..(casually) "I think it is coming from down stairs."

Me: ..(it kinda clicked instantly..) I RAN down to the living room, to be greeted with a full blown water fall POURING out of two of the pot lights in the living room!

Me: YELLING!! ha ha

James: Runs down (it clicks for him somewhere in here I am sure, since he hadn't heard anything until I frantically started yelling lol).. turns around and immediately runs for towels.

Me: Now on the phone with the builders.. "um yeah, we used the en suite tub for the first time and the second the drain was let out.. it rained downstairs!" ..something like that anyway, inject a sense of FRANTIC into that! ha!

Laine: Running around in her towel thinking the world is ending. lol  OK, maybe not, but she did declare it the 'worst day ever'! 

Harley: Started talking about the tub being broken and the ceiling needing fixed, and the floor getting ruined.. and he didn't stop for a week! heee!

Oh yes, that really did happen!  That was a few weeks ago, so it is kind of easier to laugh about it now.  Also helps that as of yesterday, the ceiling is fully repaired.. and you can 'barely' tell it ever happened.  I say barely, because unless you are looking for it with a magnifying glass, you would likely never notice.  They actually did a fantastic job!  The hardwood floors also need repaired yet.  We have some very sorry home builders though.. they have apologized immensely for the drain that was left open. ha ha ha HA?? lol  

James and I are sure it was a twist of fate though.. somewhere in there, the powers that be stepped in and decided it should be Harley's 4 inches of water instead of our full soaker tub full, which it would have been had our romantic candle lit relaxing evening actually happened. ;)  Oh can you imagine the damage then? ..it would have got to the walls, and the drywall would have soaked it up... oh my gosh it would have been so much worse!  Fate. However sick and twisted.. lol

Oh well.. what else can you do but laugh.. right? hee?

around home this week..

A quick and random post on this gorgeous sunny Sunday.. spring, are you finally here? Knock on wood, right?  Here are some things I am loving around home this week..

I scrapbooked!  You have no idea how happy this makes me.  First page since January.. this is HUGE! ;)  Nevermind that.. first bit of craftiness since January period!  Happy happy girl I am!! :)

Miss Laine's hair.  She got a haircut a few weeks ago and donated her 8 inch pony.  So proud of her!  Then.. to top things off, her auntie took her and her cousin to get a pink streak put in last weekend.. so fun! You should see her struttin' around the house these days! ;)  Don't worry (mom).. it is only semi-permanent and has faded immensely already.

Our light.  We have replaced a lot of lighting in our house already.. most people think we are nuts since it is a brand new house.. but it had the same lighting as almost all of the houses around us, so the need to be unique pushed into the land of crazy. ha!  I actually bought two of these.. one big and one little, and this one (the big one) is hanging above the entry/foyer-ish area up on the second level.. we loooove it.  Not too sure where to put the smaller one yet.. maybe in my craft space, or we might save it for the staircase down to the basement.. which isn't finished, so it may be a while before it makes an appearance.

I actually just love that we actually had somewhere to put this huge light in this house.. it was actually James who said it would be the perfect spot (he knew I had a major crush on this particular fixture hee!) when we first stepped into the house! ..love that!

Love that I am finally getting the nerve to hang things on the walls... even if they are just taped up for now. ;P 

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend so far! 

oh yes.. now we are talkin'!

Hello my friends.. slooooowly digging our way out of post move chaos!  And the best news.. my computer is hooked up!  AND.. I have emptied off my camera for the first time since February.. yes, February!  I feel like I have regained a part of myself.. my computer, my pictures!  Yes, I realize that sounds extraordinarily lame and pathetic.. but, I am sure my blogging friends can relate right?  Riiighhht!?

You know what this *should* mean?  A blogging frenzy! ha ha  I laugh, because I know myself well enough to know that even though I have a zillion posts planned in my head, that doesn't um necessarily mean they will make it on here any time soon. ;P 

Anyhow.. just wanted to pop on quick and say "hi"!! :)

hello friends.. we moved!

I know I know I know.. I disappeared didn't I?  Not a hint.. not a clue, just gone.  I am sorry for that.  It has been a crazy few months!  To break it down short.. we moved!  We are no longer an acreage family.. we came in from the bush and are city folk now! ;)

Yes, that is a horrible picture.. it was a 'drive by' photo from when we were first looking at houses lol! AND, to top it all off.. my main computer with my photos is not hooked up yet, so I had to steal this from a message I had sent way back in February, so it was downsized for email.. and now it is stretched for blog land.. but I suddenly had the urge to blog, and I am not going to not do that because of a crappy photo! lol

OK, now for the short version (will fill in some blanks later)..

1. We decided to put our house on the market, had started talking last fall.. then everything all at once just screamed "do it now" lol.. so we did... and it sold in under 24 hours.  Yes UNDER 24 HOURS!

2. Thankfully we had already had our eyes on a house before ours officially went up (we went window shopping before hand).. and it was still available when we were all of a sudden facing having no where to live! 

3.  The buyers had a crazy short possession date in their offer.. and we were even crazier when we accepted it! ha ha ha  ..rolling my eyes at the chaos that has been the past month.

4.  As of last Friday, we were officially moved out 100%!!

5.  Slowly digging our way out of a mountain of boxes and furniture ..loving how much like home it is starting to feel! YAY!

Yes yes yes.. that is the condensed happy version that involves no stress at all, but who wants to hear about all that anyway?  I am sure if you have ever had to move, you can completely relate... right?

I can't wait to share pictures of the inside.. it is coming together, the office/craft space (front window on main floor) is a disaster.. but I did move enough boxes so I can close the door now, which is perfectly acceptable... for now! hee!

Internet is finally and running.. so hopefully I can ease my way back into blogging, I sure have missed it!  So many crazy stories to share.. be back soon!!

xoxo

winter wonderland?

I hope everyone is cozy and warm wherever you are..

Very thankful that we didn't have to venture out today.  The amount of snow that has come down this past week is mind boggling, especially these past few days.. it just keeps coming and coming.

We have already gotten the call letting us know that the school buses are not running in the morning.  So, knowing I don't have to set the alarm.. I am going to spend this Sunday evening scrapping away and watching some ridiculous TV shows (ummm aka.. The Hills lol). In my jammies and slippers, actually feeling quite cozy.. considering.

Oh winter.. I really do love you, but this is getting a little crazy.