Entries Tagged as 'Family'

Be Glad

12

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

17

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?

Super Spy Party Invitations

17

17.1.13

I thought I’d give you a sneak peak of an extra special design project I’ve been working on lately… birthday party invitations for my little guy! He’ll be six at the end of the month! (Yikes!) The theme for the event, as dictated, will be a Super Spy Birthday Party. Do you see the magnifying glass formed by the shape of the type? Well, you will now! Super Spy take home kits (aka Evidence Bags) are being assembled, games planned and costumes tried on. Bring on the Super Spies!

It’s Good to be Alive

11

07.1.13

We wandered in the woods near our house with the boys over the weekend, accompanied by some warm drinks to keep the hands warm. It’s one of our favourite things to do as a family. There is just something wonderful about being surrounded by nature, don’t you think? Towering trees have a way of making worries seem smaller.

Besides running and jumping and balancing on fallen trees in the woods, the boys play a game that they created, called Faces in Places. The game consists of watching for faces in nature, whether natural or man made. Whoever sees the face first shouts “Faces in Places!” Do you see the face that they saw?

How did you spend your weekend? I hope it was a good one!

Parent Rap

6

18.9.12

Parents rap about maintaining their household by videosonlytube

This video is so funny, I just had to share! For all the parents of young kids, this one’s for you. And for those that wonder how life would change if you did have kids… enjoy a preview.

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.

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