Today's Moment - Stop and Smell the Flowers

Joining up with SouleMama today to share a moment. 

From SouleMama: A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  

Strawberry Picking

You've got to love this time of year...we are finally getting local, fresh produce!  First up-strawberries.  We went picking at a local farm over the weekend.  I wasn't sure how the kids would do and was getting ready to send them over to Nana's.  And then Dean offered to come with us to help pick.  So we packed everyone into the truck, grabbed our baskets and off we went.  The kids actually did really well.  Dustin ate lots of rotten strawberries he kept picking off the ground and Emma had a minor melt down when her rubber boot got stuck in a deep, muddy puddle which she choose to walk through.  Dean did most of the picking as I chased the kids up and down the rows trying to keep Emma from walking on the ripe strawberries and Dustin from eating them.  To some of you this might be sounding like a disaster but to me it was a success.  We walked out of there with two baskets of fresh strawberries and the rain held off until just before we were leaving. Here is some pictures of the adventure:

I was able to get a few strawberry shortcake desserts and two batches of jam out of our harvest. Anyone else been out picking?  What have you done with your harvest?

~Elizabeth

Hens and Chicks - The Plant Kind

As my experience with gardening goes every year, I'm all enthusiastic early in the season.  The perennial beds are looking good and I'm out weeding every few nights.  And then all of a sudden, something comes up and you skip a few days.  And it's just enough of an opportunity for things to take over.  Weeds start growing into your plants, some plants spread all over the place when you don't keep them trimmed, etc., etc.  I'll go at it again and get everything cleaned out eventually but I'm much less enthusiastic about it than I was a few weeks ago. 

I do love my perennial beds.  It's amazing to think I nurtured something so little into a beautiful thing (hmmm...sounds like something else we moms do everyday!).  Most of my plants have been split from friends and family or purchased at horticultural society sales.  And I love the fact that I can now divide some and share the love.

My favorite perennial is Hens and Chicks.  There is probably a more scientific name for it but that's how I've always known it.  Here's one that I have growing in my garden.  What's your favorite perennial?

I want to finish off the week with some exciting news....I requested to be a guest blogger on Ottawa Valley Moms and they accepted me.  I'm super excited about the opportunity to learn more about the blogging community.  And a special shout out to my good friend Jenn and fellow blogger Glitterary Girl who recently got engaged.  So excited for her.

Have a good weekend everyone! XO

~Elizabeth

Kid's Birthday Gifts

Sorry for the absence lately.  There are just not enough hours in the day...this is a blog post I started awhile ago.  And I haven't done a post in almost two weeks-I've got to get something up on the blog.

Emma was recently invited to a birthday party for one of her friends.  I'm not that great at buying kid's gifts which is ridiculous since I have two children of my own.  It's hard to know what kids are into, it changes so frequently.  And as a parent, you know how many toys your own children have accumulated...do you really need to add to the growing pile of toys at someone's house?  Don't get me wrong, I'm so grateful for all the gifts my children have received, they love receiving a new toy and why shouldn't they.  It's their day. 

Anyway, so for this birthday party I decided to do a "movie" night theme.  It included a fleecy blanket, a bowl and cup, some snacks and a gift certificate to rent some movies.  I would love this for Emma-what a way to spend a Friday night. 

What's your favorite children's birthday gift?

~Elizabeth

Popcorn - Brown Bag Style

Hi all.  Been trying to find the time to write my next post...it hasn't been easy so this will just be a quick one.  It has been awhile since I shared a TNT Pin so here is one we've been doing for awhile now.  

TNT Pin (Tried N' True Pin)

Brown Bag Popcorn

This is the only way we make popcorn now.  Check out the original pin here by Thrice The Spice.  1/3 cup popcorn, brown paper bag, microwave 2 minutes or so and voila, a tasty treat.  Just a tip: make sure you fold down the top of the bag securely or sometimes the popcorn will escape, as happened to Dean on more than one occasion. 

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week!

~Elizabeth

Today's Moment - Playing in the Sprinkler

Joining up with SouleMama again to share a moment. 

From SouleMama: A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Note: Of course this wasn't from this week because it was so cold and wet.  But it was a moment from earlier in the month when it was a little more seasonal.  Today some areas in Renfrew County had snow!  Picture taken by Auntie Beckie!

A Little Boy's Nursery

As you saw from my post last week (click here to read in case you missed it), I'm in disbelief that Dustin has turned one.  He's becoming so independent, he doesn't even want to cuddle anymore when he has his bedtime bottle.  Another "milestone" he's consistently achieving is sleeping through the night-finally! He was always a pretty good sleeper but for the longest time he was waking up sometimes three times a night, fussing enough that I had (wanted?) to check on him.  He was never up for long but enough to disrupt your sleep.   So before I went back to work we had a little pep talk and I told him we wouldn't be doing that anymore.  And it was like he actually listened. 

But of course, now I find I'm missing those nights when we would have a little cuddle in the rocking chair in his room.  You see I decorated Dustin's room based on my decorating style-rustic and primitive.  None of that typical boy stuff like trains, planes or automobiles (unless it was rustic).  I chose the decoration purely on what I like and that's why I love my little boy's nursery!

Here are some of my favorite elements. 

The ABC blocks I actually painted myself.  The blocks were cut by a friend from work who does all my wood working projects for me.  These were one of my successes with the room (I'll tell you about a failure later on in the post...)

I had found this idea in a craft magazine and had a local store who sells all things primitive make it for me. 

The shelf was made by my grandfather.  The letters (Dustin's initials) I painted and I also did the footprint craft...another success!  I decorated the shelf with some old teddy bears and bunnies, a baby picture, a cute "Jesus Loves Me" sign from Dustin's godparents and an old mason jar filled with cotton balls. 

Of course everyone loves this saying-I found this at a primitive store in Nova Scotia!

Probably one of my favorite things in his room.  I had this done by a local artist Denise Lenoir Fine Art.  I love her work.  (If the link doesn't work search for her on Facebook).

 

I also installed some wall art with some rustic barn stars. 

And finally the failure.  I bought this lamp at Wal-Mart and wanted to personalize it.  Well the shade is actually balancing on the lightbulb instead of being "screwed" into the base because when I painted the hearts on I painted them upside down!!! So maddening! Oh well-it functions.  

So I don't know what Dustin will be in to when we redecorate his room in a few years.  Probably the character of the day.  Maybe Thomas or Cars.  Whatever it is I hope we can keep a few of my favorite things from when he was a baby. 

Thanks for reading!

~Elizabeth