Tooth fairy

Another milestone reached yesterday, Marley lost her second tooth. Now the second tooth is usually not as big of a deal as the first but in this instance it was a pretty big deal as Marley did not want to part with her first tooth.
She wrote the tooth fairy a nice little letter asking her to kindly leave her first tooth with her as she was not ready to give it up to the tooth goddess quite yet.
Who knows where that tooth is now, probably sucked into the vacuum cleaner or buried deep into the carpet in her bedroom.

But last night daddy helped the natural course of things along by wiggling Marley's tooth out. He has come to be known as the neighbourhood "assistant" to the tooth fairy, helping not only our kids but one or two others along the way. He has it down to a fine art now with a combination of distraction, gentle pressure and trickery!!!!

Now I don't know if it's just my upbringing, but the tradition in my childhood home was to put your tooth on the kitchen window sill in a glass of water and overnight the tooth fairy would visit,  inspect the tooth and reward accordingly.
No tooth under the pillowcase stuff at my house, I'm sure the tooth fairy remembers me from all those years ago and just knows that that's the way we roll!!!!

So before going to bed last night I checked to make sure the correct protocol had been followed and was surprised to see that the kids had implemented a new tradition of their own with the tooth fairy...........begging!!!!!

I think she may have had a little assistance from big sis on this one.

Marley awoke to $6 in the jar this morning, she sounded a little perturbed...I think she was hoping for a substantial amount more.

Better luck next time kiddo!!!!!

My little forest nymph

We recently had some company stay at our house from Alberta, it's summer here in the sunny Okanagan and these parts are usually flooded with out of province folk, looking for some fun in the sun.
My dear friend Lisa and her family graced us with their presence for two nights for a long overdue catch up session.
The kids get along famously and I really enjoy seeing my kids faces as they reappeared from behind their electronics and closed bedroom doors.
The girls decided to do a re-enactment of snow white in the lush trees surrounding our house and unbeknown to them, I was able to sneak up and snap a few shots while they were in the middle of their story telling.
I just wanted to share a few shots of Marley as it's been a while since I've blogged and I'm starting to receive complaints and death threats. I thought this would be a great jumping off point as I attempt to return to blogging.

There, that wasn't so bad after all. Stay tuned for more summer fun!

Home envy

I recently stumbled across a new blog somehow or another through the web.........most likely pinterest, and now have a major, humongo case of home envy. 


If you haven't already stumbled across The lettered cottage yourself then please, please, please go directly to TLC; do not pass Go; do not collect $200.
Take a peek at this budget savvy duo, Kevin and Layla Palmer, and their uncanny  ability to know exactly how I want to decorate my next house.


The before and after of their kitchen had me at hello and I can't wait to see what they do with the rest of their home as they renovate one room at a time.

Standard builder, straight out of a box type decor. Their home has great bones.
Just look at the transformation below............I'm in lurve!!!!!!

Their laid back, airy home speaks "Australia house" to me. Ocean breezes and sandy toes, nothing too stuffy and oh so kid friendly.

Not to mention the fact that these guys have obviously not experienced renovator "burn out" yet, so they have the attitude that anything is possible and are eager to do as much of the work themselves. 

To see more go here.

Spring break 2012

 

What to do, what to do with kids for spring break? My day yesterday went a little something like this.

•  Get up, feed kids.
•  Pull all the pictures off the wall and start moving things from wall to wall until it feels right.
• Change one thing, nothing else feels right.
• Put everything else back on the wall so that hubby doesn't notice when he comes home.
• Take pics of the one thing that you are happy with (see below).

• Feed kids lunch.
• Go outside and burn some energy (see below).

• Pack the kids back up in the car to get those icy cold toes into a nice warm shower.
• Put kids to bed to rest for another fun day tomorrow.

I'm having a moment today, so please bear with me while I think out loud.

I am in a place in my life right now where I am taking stock of my life, making big plans for the future and trying my darnedest to push ahead and make these secret yearnings a reality.
The biggest part of this plan, the part that causes me the most hesitation and heart ache, is the fact that I can't wrap all of my nearest and dearest up in a neatly tied little package and bring them with me.

They will always have a place in my heart, but if there's one thing that I've learnt from years of separation, it's that those connections are so easily lost with time and distance. And the thought of that is totally terrifying to me.

My people are my tribe...my family. So my new mantra is to cherish, connect with and nurture those connections with these seriously special members of my tribe.
To simplify and streamline my lifestyle and my environment, so that it is more conducive to connecting with the people of importance in my life.
I don't know the steps to make this happen or have the answers to make this a reality......... here's where the floundering around part comes back into play.

I'm finding since my return from Australia that there are so many things on my list that need to be conquered in order for us to be able to have the financial freedom to move back.

I keep tackling the little projects, the one's that have a start and a finish, they make me feel like I've accomplished one little miracle at a time.
But they're not really contributing to the big picture.
I feel like these little daily overhauls are taking time away from my people. I need to find a way to get my s&*t sorted in a more efficient, timely manner. Make better use of my down time when the kids are at school, spend less time cleaning and more time "making time" for my family.

The kids are on spring break for two weeks, so there's lots of family time to be had. There are adventures to chase, master pieces to create and lots of snuggles on the couch and movies to be watched. Today is one of those days, it's snowing out side and I have a few extra kid's for the day to keep my little one's busy.

So I'm allocating my morning to purging and cleaning a space for me. A space where I can sit, reflect, work and connect, without the weight of the overwhelming mess and clutter threatening to swallow me up.
Because now it's time to focus on the big scary things. Finishing renovations, bank refinancing, renting out the basement and my favorite, preparing for court to end this roofing nightmare.
And to do that, I need some organisation and focus so that it doesn't gobble me up like a big monster and leave nothing for my family.

It's not rocket science, but it's a start, hopefully in the right direction.

 

Happy Spring equinox y'all!!

 

The March equinox signals the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. It marks that special moment when the sun crosses the celestial equator going from south to north. In 2012, this equinox comes early. It’ll be on March 20 at 5:14 UTC.

Why is the equinox early in 2012? The reason is, in part, because 2012 is a leap year. If this year weren’t a leap year, this equinox would come on March 21 – not March 20 – at 5:14 Universal Time. The equinoxes for the coming three years – 2013, 2014, 2015 – will all fall on March 20 as well. But – with each passing year – each equinox will come nearly 6 hours later by the clock. In the year 2016, the equinox would fall on March 21 – if 2016 weren’t a leap year.

Yesterday felt like it was spring here in chilly Canada. As soon as the sun was up I practically leaped outside with my gum boots on my feet and garden clippers in hand.    

 I raked and trimmed, primped and pruned, cleaned and swept my yard all afternoon in the glorious spring sunshine. Trimming all the dead winter growth away to expose the new life emerging from underneath and the DUN DUN DUN!!! It snowed again this morning.......REALLY!!

Oh well, no point putting the horse before the cart. Next thing you know I will be complaining about all the yard work I need to do and how sick and tired I am of mowing my grass. 

SPRING.....you are always welcome in my backyard. (You're my favorite season....just don't tell the others).

Domestic Diva Tip #1

So, if you've not discovered Pinterest yet then I must warn you to continue reading this post at your own risk. 
I will not be held responsible for any addiction that you may encounter, the hours of your day wasted on the computer or the sudden urge to modpodge, organize, redesign and/or renovate your entire life!!!!


If you are brave enough ( or stupid enough ) to ask "What is Pinterest" then I apologise in advance.

Pinterest is an online Virtual pinboard.
It lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. To get started, request an invite.

For example, I have a board title "domestic diva", this is where I accumulate all of the brilliant ideas OTHER people have discovered for housekeeping that I plan to implement in my own home so as to radiate domestic awesomeness.

So the theme of this post is exactly that.......Domestic diva tips. I would like to share some tried and true ideas that I've found on pintereset and elsewhere online so that I can at least feel as though the hours spent in front of my computer screen ooohing and aaaahing have not been in vain.

Starting from today, maybe once a week, once a month or as the urge floods over me to share, I will test a Domestic Diva Tip and give it either a thumbs up or a thumbs down.

That way you can all keep from wasting your precious time on a Pinterest addiction such as mine!!

So here goes: 

Domestic  Diva

Tip #1

Protecting stainless appliances

with baby oil.

A couple of hears ago we upgraded our kitchen appliances, the hubby instantly wanted stainless steel, a look I LOVE also. However, we've all heard the warnings about finger prints, smudges and scuffs driving even the most dedicated housekeeper to insanity.

But who can resist?? You either come to terms with the fact that your appliances will never look clean like the day you unwrapped them or make stainless steel wipes your new best friend!

I do a little of both, I can live with the smudges on a day to day basis but always find myself shining those suckers up before a dinner party or visit from the mother in-law.

I recently read somewhere the baby oil does a great job of buffing up those appliances like brand new so I thought I'd give it a try. Normally I use the stainless steel wipes from the supermarket, no brand in particular, just whatever is on sale. There's no doubt that they work but they are a little pricey for what you get, and I always try to stretch the amount of  square inch wiping I get from each cloth and end up with tell tale "cheap lady" streaks.

So, good old Johnson's baby oil, I'm sure this bottle is as old as my 6 year old. But it still looks, smells and works great. A little squirt onto some paper towel and buff to your hearts content. 

Some people recommend that you clean the surface first with a wet cloth, mine wasn't too bad to start with but you can see the streak marks from the last time I wiped my fridge down. If you look carefully, the door on the right has been wiped with baby oil and the one on the left is a good representation of what my stainless steel always looks like.

I was going to leave one side treated and the other untouched in order to do a comparison in a week or so but the pure joy I got from seeing my stainless steel so shiny got the better of me and I ended up doing everything, the dishwasher included!

So readers, The Fonz and I agree. The cheap and multi-use baby oil gets my vote, my home will now officially be a stainless steel wipe free building.

House cleaning central also offers a multitude of other options for cleaning stainless steel. I've only tried the baby oil and am super happy with the results so far. 

Happy Domestic Bliss to you all. Feel free to share any of your own tips.