The last little bit of baby

It will be a sad day when J doesn't fit in one piece jammies with the feet anymore. I haven't seen them bigger than size 4 which pretty much garantees she won't fit in them next year *sob*. For this reason, I am hoping she will agree to wear them lots this fall/winter. I can dream, can't I? They are not her favourite as she is like a little oven and says she is to hot. Last night she did wear them all night. I think she may sense how much I love them and wanted to please me. Is it possible at her young age that she would want to make mama happy? Either way, I will take it.

Direction and a post

I have been thinking a lot lately at why I like to blog. What do I want to get out of it long term? What should it mean?

I have been following (blog hopping) quite a bit as I love little glimpses in peoples lives. The post can make you happy, sad, angry and most of all see it through a different set of eyes. These are the emotions you can get from watching a movie or reading a book. I even had tears (and cried) a couple of times reading some entries. They can make you realize that you are normal at times you are not sure. It can be very powerful.

For me, I have no desire to follow a blog that each entry is nothing but negativity. I think it would bring my spirit down pretty quickly. I don't like blogs that attack people, their spouse or their children. I am not talking about not being able to express your frustrations at certain situations. After all, everyone has challenges and frustrations, right?

I don't want to pretend that we don't have mountains of laundry that need to be folded or that the dishes are always done. I don't want the pictures to be always planned. After all, the moments can be lost if we don't embrace them in their true forms. I know that someday Juliana will read this and I want her to see how life was. I hope she enjoys reading it as much as I have writing it.

So....This is the blog I have been following and is probably my fave that I have found so far. You can tell that family is truly important to her and that I like. We share a lot of the same likes - photography, crafts, vintage items and the colour red to name a few. Click here to take a peek. I hope you enjoy it.

For Kim, start with her December entries. I am sure you will be hooked...lol!

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So here is my first entry caught yesterday morning. As you can see J's hair is not combed but I couldn't pass up on the moment.

Juliana has always loved Harley. Harley has always loved me. Harley isn't so fond of Derek. Harley is finally warming up to Juliana and loves to sleep in her bed during the day. I notice little by little they are spending a little more time together. Yesterday morning (Sunday) she was playing with him by the patio doors with a ribbon. It was so cute and she laughed big belly laughs when he grabbed the ribbon.

All that glitters

I have been saying for years now that I want to make/have a Halloween tree. I have decided that this is the year. Over the last 3 years I have collected some Halloween ornaments but have yet to use them. The only thing I really need are Halloween balls (like Christmas ones except in Halloween colours). Because really what's a tree without balls on it? I have looked around and all the Halloween balls are made of glass so I decided to buy some glitter and foam balls because little hands like to touch. Tonight we decorated them. They are not perfect but they are meaningful to me as I know they were decorated with care and love.

I am so happy that J loves to do crafts with me and I am taking every opportunity because I know there will come a day that it won't top her "fun to do" list. Okay...enough mushy stuff..hee hee!

I have an idea for the tree but will only share it if it works out. I must advise that if you are not a fan of crafts you may find the next two months of entries long. Of course I will mix it up but just wanted to give a heads up. Also, I am always up for some ideas/suggestions you may have.

A little more of Ontario

Just wanted to share a couple more pictures of our trip to Ontario. We actually didn't take that many pictures (compared to what we usually take) but did manage to get a couple.

We stopped several times on the highway to stretch our legs and one of the exits we took was "Pocatière". We did not know any of these places and just stopped randomly as the need arose. As we came to the stop sign at the end of the ramp, we looked right and saw an amazing rest area. It is located along a body of water, had wooden swings, picnic tables and the view was breathtaking. This is a picture I took of D and J looking out at the water.




They had a huge garbage can and it had those funky mirrors on it. Of course I couldn't pass it up...hee hee!




Skipping along the trail. Notice the 2 pairs of sunglasses in her hand but none on her face.



This is a picture of Juliana and my sister. I really love this picture. J just noticed the rainbow at this moment.

A steam train and sculptures

We got back last night from a trip to Ottawa to visit my sister. There are so many things I loved about Ontario but of course seeing my sister topped the list.

During our stay we had the opportunity to visit a little part of Ontario and Quebec. I am sure it was only the tip of the iceberg, however, of the places we visited, two places in particular left an impression.

Late Friday afternoon my sister brought us to this little village she had been talking about. While I knew I would like it because she did, I didn't expect to fall in love with this little place. It's a little village called Wakefield and it is located in Quebec. It's a little treasure, really it is. It is by no means big or fancy and it is not visible from the highway. I don't recall even seeing a street light. Upon arriving in Wakefield, it appeared the whole village had gathered on the deck of the local pub. It was so great to see. Nothing but smiling faces were to be seen. If you have any stresses entering this village, they are sure to be gone upon your departure.

We decided to stop at one of the convenience stores as J had mentioned she needed to use the washroom. Imagine the beautiful surprise when we came out of the store and a genuine steam train passed us by. For a moment I could not help but feel like I was in an episode of "Murder she wrote". No, not because of a murder but because of the setting of the village (I could imagine Jessica Fletcher and her typewriter in one of the nearby homes). I must admit my first reaction at missing the caboose was disappointment for photo reasons). I was so excited when the train crosses in front of us - back and forth. It felt as if it's sole purpose was to entertain us. I did manage to get a couple of pictures. As you can see, I was racing against the clock to get some pictures before the sun set. It was so perfect and to top it off, we were graced with a beautiful rainbow.

If you are ever in Quebec, you must add this little gem to your list of places to visit.












On Saturday we visited a few other places. We stopped along the river in Ottawa to see these sculptures. They are made each spring as the rising water in the fall/winter disassembles them. Some of them are as tall as I and others are 4-6 inches in height. It truly is amazing that the only thing balancing these rocks are little stones.

signed with love

Last weekend I decided to do a clean up of our file cabinet. It really was time. My plan is to do a cleaning/purging/organizing while I am off in September. I sure hope I come across some more treasures like this. It is a letter written by my little sister. I haven't seen it in many years and forgot I had it. As you can see her English was well...ummm....just take a look.

As seen in Scrapbooks etc.

Well, not really but it's where I got the idea for these little treats.

Last Saturday I picked up some clay (not really clay as it was kind of foamy and made by crayola) and J and I got creative on Sunday. We decided to try out the lollipops that can be found on page 62 of the new issue. I must say I am a visual person and sometimes it can take me a while to figure something out if I don't have the step by step instructions. If you look closely, I am sure you will spot the first lollipops we made. hee hee!. The good news is I eventually figured it out. Phew! We used wooden kabob skewers for the lollip pop stick and painted them black. I plan on picking up some "real" clay and will attempt to make some spooky critters to attach to them. The label on the glass jar is from the Martha Stewart holiday stickers which I also picked up on Saturday.

Storytime

I bought a story time projector a couple of years ago. Up until last night, J has not shown any interest in it and I can't remember the last time we had it out. Last night as we are getting ready to read a story, I asked her which book she wanted to read. She kept asking for Winnie. I showed her a couple of books and she said "no, not that one". I wasn't sure what she wanted so I asked her to show me. She brought me in my room and in the closet (we have a walk in) and she pointed on the top shelf. I can't believe she remembered it and where it was. I took it out and away to her bedroom we went. It was fun to see her little eyes light up when she was watching the slides change.

I wonder if she will want to watch it again tonight. She has a way of moving from one thing to the next pretty quickly...hee hee!

The weekend after the previous weekend

The week leading up to this last weekend was very busy for D. He was on vacation and I was at work. During this time he painted our bedroom (I will post some pics when we are done putting it together). He spread mountains of seasoned horse manure mixed with sawdust and soil (to much info? hee hee), and he stained our decks. As you can see, we do have grass poking through.






Friday evening J and I decided we needed to add some accesories to the deck so we put together the following. It actually turned out pretty cute.







Here is J being silly.




On saturday morning we had a deer visit us. If you look closely you will see him. PS - 50MM is not the lens you want to use when you have to zoom.lol.




We had a deck crawl with some of our neighbours and it was lots of fun. Of course it meant an occasion for lights. I had the idea of hanging them from the clothesline. It was really pretty when it was dark out. Sorry for the not so great pic. LED lights are not photogenic. Tee hee!



On Sunday, we layed pretty low and there were no pictures...ha ha!

Last weekend

I notice it has been about 2 weeks since I last posted. I really don't want to ignore my blog as I love looking through it as time passes. These last 2 weeks have been anything but boring. We have been busy bees. Summer is passing by and there are still so many things I want to do although I can do without the heat. Last weekend we had our niece and nephew spend the weekend with us. It was a lot of fun and it feels like we crammed a lot in those short 3 days.

On Saturday morning we had breakfast on the deck. It was such a beautiful morning and I am not sure why but food always taste better outside. Here is a picture of them filling up their plates.



Later in the morning as it got really hot, we needed a way to cool off other than the pool. We brought out the water balloons and the kids had a great time.




On Sunday, we decided to head to Hopewell Rocks. The kids had never been there before and we were really excited to walk on the ocean floor. If you have never heard of the Rocks, you can check it out here http://www.thehopewellrocks.ca/.



T loved it and was game to pose for some pictures. Here he is spider man.



This photo makes me giggle. It was the closest to having everyone look at the camera.



After we visited the rocks, we stopped for a picnic in Riverview. We had packed a cooler full of food. I think everyone had fun.

PS - Here is a picture of one of our pumpkins I photographed today. It is about 8 inches long. I think it will be our prized pumpkin for this year. lol!