Entries Tagged as 'Family'

Panda Themed Birthday Party

1

03.2.16

Panda Party

Does anyone else have a panda lover in their house? My youngest has been crazy obsessed lately! He requested a Panda-themed birthday party this year, and since he’s not going to be cool with themed parties for much longer you can believe that I was going to run with this! So, with a little help from a perfectly timed release of the Kung Fu Panda 3 movie and some jelly beans, I was able to pull it off.

I am not at all gifted with baking skills, so I always try to keep things pretty simple. I searched Pinterest for inspiration, and found lots of panda faces made of chocolate chips or fondant icing (heck no!). Basic icing and some carefully placed jelly beans work for me! I love how the curve of the jelly beans totally mimics panda eyes and ears! How has that idea not made it’s way to Pinterest already! You’re welcome people!

And, of course, what birthday party is complete without an invitation? This little heart-nosed panda invitation is now listed in the shop here so you can put together your own panda party!

Cleaning up with ChoreMonster

6

07.11.13

Things have been changing around our house lately… it’s getting tidy! Yes, my kids are doing chores. But that isn’t new. What’s new is that they are excited about it! We’ve been using ChoreMonster for a month or so now, and since it’s working I thought I’d share it with you! To get started we created a list of chores and set some rewards, and the kids are earning points towards their goals with each chore. The real motivator is trying to win the virtual monsters, which are a huge hit with my two monsters! Unless of course our oldest wins a monster and our younger one doesn’t… but then that teaches an important lesson too, doesn’t it. 😉

I’ve tried sticker charts before, and they have never worked for us. We all got bored of them pretty quick. But I’m pretty happy to see that my kids are the ones reminding me about chores most days now. I don’t have to keep them accountable anymore, they are self-motivated! Finally! If you feel like trying it out with your family, you can use this link to get ONE MONTH FREE membership. Let me know what you think if you do!

I only accept brand opportunities to write about things I love and would normally buy anyway.
I received an opportunity through Canopi to partner with ChoreMonster.

Be Glad

13

15.5.13

I was scrolling through on Instagram today and a picture that Ez took caught my eye. It was of a beautiful tea towel from Paloma’s Nest with the words “Be glad for this moment” printed on it. Similar to the saying “Be happy for this moment. For this moment is your life.” which you may have heard before. Glad resonates with me more than happy for some reason, and those words perfectly describe how I felt when I took this picture on the beach in Carlsbad, CA a couple months ago. We sat on this beach every night so the boys could run in the waves as the sun set. Our favorite kind of holiday!

But, since we aren’t going on holidays again anytime soon, I need to remember that it’s not just those moments that I need to be glad for. They are the easy ones to enjoy. It’s the everyday, mundane, and sometimes trying moments that I need to remember to be glad about. Because those are precious too. “Relax into the joy of life” as Brené Brown would say. I’m going to print out this poster and pin it up in my office to remind me.

I hope the week is treating you well so far, with many happy moments!

On a side note… I ordered a Starbucks mocha every day while we were on holidays and they were unbelievably good! I have yet to taste one that even comes close here in Vancouver! Does anyone know if the water changes the flavor? If so, I may start getting water shipped up from California to my local Starbucks. 😉 Tell me I’m not the only one that has noticed this…

Walk in the Park: Minnekhada Regional Park

21

04.2.13

I am smitten with trees. And beaver dams. And the sound created when you throw rocks onto frozen marshes.

Super Spy Party Time

20

29.1.13

We celebrated a very special little boy this weekend! Our baby turned 6! If you follow along then you’ve already seen all the prep and the invitation. This post is about all the fun and games that ensued once the kids showed up! Which, of course, is what it’s all about! It’s definitely not about my mad cake decorating skills! Ha! Any cake professionals out there, please avert your eyes. As you can see I opted to take the same approach as I did on the last cake I made, cutting shapes out of wax paper and shaking some icing sugar over top to make a design that matches the party theme. Dirt simple. No shame. At the end of the day the cake tasted just as good.

When the children arrived they received their super spy attire, consisting of a peel-and-stick mustache and a black hat. To make sure no imposters had made it through the door they were all asked to head straight to the table for fingerprinting… which they all thought was pretty cool. Then they played a game of “don’t let the bomb touch the floor or it will explode” (aka, work together to keep the black balloon in the air). It really doesn’t take much to get a group of six year old boys excited. The party favourite was an idea that is making its rounds on Pinterest, the “laser beam” obstacle course (aka, red neon twine). The boys were so excited to try and make it up the staircase without touching the laser beams.

I think that covers the highlights! Older brother has announced that he liked this party so much that he wants a complete redo for his birthday in the Fall. Sounds good to me!

Have a good week!

Super Spy Party Preparations

19

21.1.13

Gift Bag

How was your weekend? I was busy getting organized for the big birthday party that’s coming up this week! We are now well stocked with spy hats and mustaches for the mini-spies arrival. And when it’s time to leave they will all be taking home an “evidence bag” which will include Top Secret Spy Notebooks sporting labels that I designed to coordinate with the invitations. Also, tubes of M&M’s wrapped in red tissue paper (aka “dynamite”), and some laser finger lights. Now I just need to think about food and games and we’ll be good to go! Oh how I love a good party theme!

I’ve got a busy week ahead, but I’m looking forward to it! How about you?

All Fired Up

25

17.9.12

We added a fireplace to the backyard this weekend! And what better way to welcome it to the family than with a S’mores roast! We’re having an extended summer with all this warm weather, so I see a repeat in the very near future. But first, we need to get those bright yellow stickers off the front!

Hope your weekend was fun too! What did you get up to?

Memories of Tofino

12

06.9.12

As back to school busyness takes over, I can’t help but miss summer holidays. Do you find yourself doing that too? We just got back on Monday from Tofino, a beach town on the Westcoast of Vancouver Island. Surfing, bike riding, beach combing and boat rides on water taxis kept everyone happy.

I would venture a guess and say that this enormous beer (called a “Growler”) from the Tofino Brewing Company was Jason’s favorite discovery of the trip. I am not a fan of beer, but I loved the bottle!

We stayed at Pacific Sands Beach Resort this year, and the boys asked at least once a day whether we could move in! With a view like this, yes, please! It was so beautiful, and kid friendly too! Of course you can’t stay in a place like this without coming home and searching all the property listings, right?! A girl can dream…

PS – I posted about our 2010 trip to Tofino here.

Back to School

6

05.9.12

Our youngest started kindergarten today! And his older brother is now in grade 3. It’s hard to believe. The moment I thought would never come is actually here. Although I’m thrilled to start working during daylight hours instead of the midnight shift, I have to admit that I’m a little bit emotional about the whole thing! This is one of those moments where I kind of want to stop time and soak it all up slowly.

Happy Friday & Wedding Pics

8

27.7.12

I thought I’d leave you with a picture I took of my sister’s gorgeous wedding bouquet. It’s hard to believe that it was almost a month ago that she got married! And I can’t believe she’ll be moving away in less than a week!

These sweet shots of my beautiful sister Louisa and her husband Steve are from photographer Linda McCague. You can see more here.

Have a great weekend! I’m sure there are many happy brides this weekend with the weather we’ve been having!

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