June 2011
  

My Sister's Engaged!



My littlest sister is engaged! And we're EXCITED! :)

I've been a little less present in the blogging world because I've been focussed on my sisterly/bridesmaidly duties ;)

She's getting married on 9/10/11, so it's gonna be a fun summer of preparations!

I have lots of posts in the works for you- projects to share! (so stayed tuned :)

Proud to be Canadian :)

This is what we made in preparation for Canada Day!


If you're here, visiting from the Great Canadian Blog Bash, I hope you'll have a little look around at some of the fun we like to have around here! :) Take a moment to leave me a comment, cuz I'd love to get to know you!


If you want in on my tutorial on how to make these, head over to HowDoesShe? and check it out!

Treasure the Moments That Matter Most!

I love this video. It's what I strive so hard to do as a mother and a person. It's so hard to do, and I can use any reminder I can get. I hope it will inspire you to enjoy the moments today :)



I'm posting again over at HowDoesShe? today. :)
Go check it out!

Happy 90th Birthday, Oma!


A couple of months ago (I'm late posting this) my Oma turned 90!


We had a lovely birthday party for her, to celebrate her fabulous life so far. She really is a fabulous woman & I'm so glad my daughters get to know & love her as I do!

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The Internet is such a cool thing. Years ago, when I started out with photography, I took photos of my aunt & uncle's family (including Oma) and posted them on my new photography blog. My dad's cousin in Holland happened to be searching online shortly after that, for her family who had moved to Canada. She found my blog when searching for that name, and thought she recognized my Oma as her aunt. She emailed me & sure enough, we were family!



How cool that a few years later, she decided to come to Canada to see where her father had been and to celebrate her aunt's 90th birthday. Here we are, the girls & I, with Manon, in our living room in Canada. We loved meeting you, Manon!

Pinterest

When you find a cool idea online (that you want to try sometime in the future), what do you do with it? Do you write it down? Do you bookmark it?

I've been hearing more & more about Pinterest lately.


It's basically your own set of virtual bulletin boards. You decide the topic for each "board" and then you "pin" things on the boards.

So, each time you find an idea online that you want to remember for later, you click on the "pin it" icon on your web browser (which you install when you sign up for Pinterest), and you pin it on one of your boards.

Then you can follow other people's boards and see what they're pinning. If you see someone's pin that you like, you can re-pin it to your own board.

It's a great system & I'm loving it!

Right now if you want to be on Pinterest, you have to be invited. I have some invites left, so if you want an invite, just comment on this post with your email address & I'll send one your way!

If you're already on Pinterest, come follow me! I'd love to follow you back & see what little gems you're pinning!

A Lovely Day, 2 Lovely Girls


{taken a few weeks ago}


I had THE best day with these girls on Monday. I had a car during the day (which is kind of rare), so we went shopping- to a dollar store to get some craft supplies, then to the mall just because. It was so much fun! We got a sweet deal when Bath & Body Works was clearing out some hand soap for $1.30, so we stocked up on some favourites. We went in a few kids' clothing shops (& bought nothing, but had fun trying on & browsing), and then we had lunch together (a sub with Fruitopia & cookies for a treat).

It wasn't like we did something amazing, but it was just a fabulous morning- then we had a long, lovely, snuggling naptime routine with stories and happiness.

I love those girls! And I love days like this. :)

Moments- Sharing & Caring

Katrina is often found taking sweet care of her little bear. Feeding it, changing it's diaper, giving it baths, fixing its ouchies, and now sharing her boots with it.



My favourite is when I hear her calling a bear or a doll "sweetheart" or some other loving name that I know she has heard from me. Totally makes my heart melt :)

Miracle Allergy Pill Anyone??

My allergies are kicking my butt right now. My last few days have increasingly been overcome by

itchy, watery eyes
runny nose
sneeze ATTACKS
itchy scalp
tickly/sore throat
puffy eyes & nose
itchy ears


I'm doubling up on Reactine Extra Strength & I'm getting zero relief.


{source}

Do you have allergies?
Do you recommend a particular medication?

UgH Somebody save me!

Father's Day & Staying In Touch



Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

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Well it's June and it's time to start thinking about Father's Day!

I say "Daddy" a lot in my everyday life. It's almost always in reference to my husband, whilst talking to my daughters. Just over 5 years ago though, when I said Daddy, I was usually referring to my own.

I think my dad is pretty amazing. The choices that he has made in his life and the commitment and conviction that he has are something that I have and will always admire and feel proud of. He's a great man who is always thinking of others and being considerate of their feelings.


My dad & I one year, with the fish I caught
(I was scared to hold them ;)

My dad has served in our church in numerous ways throughout my life. Sometimes this required him to need to type things out. My dad is not a speedy typist, so he would often call on me to help him out when I could. This is one of my happy memories of working with my dad, because I felt like I could do something worthwhile & helpful to him. I loved it when he would shake his head and make a comment about how fast I was. :)

That was back in the days that I lived at home. When I went away to school in another country, I kept in touch with my parents through long distance phone calls & email (which had a positive influence on my parents' phone bill!). Even now, I live a good distance from my parents and we often communicate through email.

I love it when my dad emails me because I know he has taken some time to compose it. And I love it when his emails are decorated with smileys and other little emoticons. It totally brightens my day :)

How do you stay in touch with your family when you're far apart?

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Here's a cute little video from Yahoo! Mail that goes along with the subject of Dads:

Rice Krispie Dishes

This is what my mom served lunch on one day when we were over. You better believe the girls loved it! :)
All you need to do is make Rice Krispie squares as usual, but shape them into dishes with your hands, instead of pressing them into a dish. This would be a fun thing to make with your kids, too. 

Moments- Handprints on the Mirror

How I will miss these days, someday in the future, when I would walk into the bathroom and find this amusing little statement, left behind by some cute little hands.


It totally made me smile. :)

Making A Parachute Out of an Umbrella

A couple of nights ago, I made a parachute out of a broken old umbrella. It was fun to be sewing again. I took pictures along the way and made a tutorial up to show you how I did it, incase you want to make one like it.

See how much fun they're having with it? ;)


The tutorial is over at HowDoesShe. If you didn't see it there yesterday, go on over & check it out! I'm excited to tell you that I'm their newest writer! I'll be posting a couple of times a month with fun ideas like the ones I share here. I hope you'll come over & visit me there :) (and you should probably read that blog all the time anyway, if you don't already, cuz it's full of great ideas! ;)

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How To Get Pen Off of Wall Decals

In my last post I showed you the cute wall decals that my mom & I put up in the girls' playroom. Today I'm going to show you how much Katrina loved the little animals. Unfortunately, her mom was not very proud of her artistic interpretation of the playroom wall masterpiece.

Well, the Internet came to the rescue. I googled & I asked you on my facebook page, and eventually I discovered how to get ink out of wall decals.



Based on my experience, here's what I can tell you:

1. Do not use magic eraser (I tried- it didn't work, so I pressed harder, then I saw the colour coming out of the sticker. However, the magic eraser always works wonders on our ikea mammut kid sized table- and you better believe I've had to use it many a time ;)

2. Do not use Vim. (I find that Vim works for a lot of things, but not wall stickers- it'll take the colour out)

3. Do not use a cloth with soap. (well you could try it- it didn't take the colour out. But it won't take the pen out either)

4. DO use Rubbing Alcohol! (It really works & it doesn't mess with the colour of the vinyl.)

5. Depending on how hard your little artist pressed with her pen, you may be left with some colour & an indent on your stickers, but they'll look a lot better than they did right after she finished her work.

6. I am told that Goo Be Gone spray gel will also do the trick. And I even heard someone suggest milk on a cloth... has anyone ever tried that? Sounds strange to me.

Now, please tell me.... does anyone know how to get pen off of a painted wall, without taking the paint off? Cuz that little bit you see in the picture isn't all I'm working with ;)

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