A little DIY

It's been almost 6 months since months since we moved in to our new house and I'm still trying to get everything in it's place. Decorating is hard when you have no time and no money... and most of all, almost zero home design flair. Having said that, I think we've done pretty well at making it a home that we're comfortable and happy with.

I have been wanting to get 'just the right thing' for the wall in the dining area for what seems like forever. I have a vision of some great photo being blown up on one of those 3 piece canvas panel things. The problem with that is that for one they are expensive and two, I have yet to find a photo that will be just right. Then I remembered a friend who had the same dilemna and decided to paint herself something. The problem with that is that she's very talanted artisically where I am not.

I started perusing the internet for ideas and found this on Pinterest.

Source

It was pinned (is that the right term?) from a blog called The New Domestic. I loved it. It seemed like it would be easy to do and cost effective so I went to Michaels, bought the supplies and gave it a whirl. It's pretty simple. Just tape a canvas with painter's tape and paint what's left. Rip off the tape and you're done. They give detailed instructions here.

Here is my final product.

I would do a few things differently next time like not use spray paint because I think it would be easier and cheaper. It was cheaper but the extra work it took to avoid overspray (which I didn't avoid after all) and the wierd blotchiness you get if you look at it from the right angle isn't really worth the $20 or $30 more I would have spent using arcrilic artist paint.

BUT- I love it.

As a tip- I taped the canvas off then took a photo of it. I then used my Photoshop program to decide what color should go where. I'm not great at visualising the final product so this helped get it just right.

Thanks to Nerissa and Peter for the idea. Your blog is fantastic for decorating ideas and I'll be stealing more of them in the future.

Camping

Nick and I decided long ago that when we had a family we were going to be campers. We had originally thought it would be a good way to get away without spending alot of money. Now that we have that family, we're realising it's also great way for us to spend quality time together without all the interruptions of TV, computers and the other sort of media our family is so addicted to.

This weekend was our first foray into the world of tenting and we made it back alive and in one piece. Dirty, tired, and a bit sunburned but in one piece. We took the kids to Jellystone campground in Woodstock NB which seems to be THE place to take your family as per many of my Facebook friends. It's a campground that caters to the kids with games, activities, playgrounds, water slides, pools and hayrides with Yogi Bear. Since we had no idea how it was going to go we thought going somewhere where there was lots to do might be a good first time place. At least we wouldn't have to try very hard to keep them entertained. I'm happy to say that the weekend went very well. The kids loved our monstrous 20 foot tent that was almost too big for our site and ran around in it all weekend. They especially loved the dual water slides and we took turns racing each other with each kid. Oliver and Nick played mini golf and Isaac made a friend with the little boy at the next campsite. We even got lucky and got to be the first ones on the hayride so the kids got to sit right up front with Yogi which was a big treat for them.

I don't have many pictures to share of the weekend because there were many water activities and then I also forgot my memory card. I did manage to get one on Saturday but had already missed many good photo ops. Here are some of the few that I did get.



The 20 foot tent wasn't a typo. You send your husband out for a tent and he comes back with a house.

They were having a 'Christmas in July' theme while we were there. These people really went all out including poinsettias on their picnic table.

I was disappointed that I didn't bring any lights or decorations but we just didn't have the extra room. We got to enjoy these across the way instead.

Yogi's nightly hay ride.

Apparently Yogi is Oliver's favorite bear. He told me that although you couldn't tell by the look on his face here.

Tank did really well with the exception of throwing up all over the the top of the tent as we rolled it out to set it up. I'm glad that wasn't an omen for what was to come over the course of the weekend.

The kids ate nothing but PB and J and Cheeze Whiz sandwiches all weekend but I didn't argue as long as they ate something. 

Our first time was a success and we will be going again soon. I do need to figure out how to pack more efficiently so that we can drag less stuff along with us. We need to leave room for very useful things like the coffee and Ice cube maker.

We said we wanted to be campers. Nobody said anything about roughing it.

Dating Myself

I had a moment the other day. A moment that every woman will have at some point. A moment every woman dreads. The moment you realise you're.... old,  Middle aged, over the hill.... let's go with 'Older than you imagine yourself to be'.

I went to get my nails done and was being worked on by a young girl who I would guess to be around 23 or so. We were talking and ended up on the subject of the movie Magic Mike. We gushed excitedly like girls do about going to see it and she talked about Channing Tatum being oh so hot. I said that I agreed but that it was Matthew McConaughey that I was excited to see.

That's when it happened.  She..... said.......

" Yeah, I think that's who my MOM wants to see too"


Gulp...

Today I miss Nunavut

Happy Canada Day everyone!

Today is the first day that I can honestly say that I am genuinely missing being in Nunavut. Canada Day up north was my favorite celebration of the year and I have many fond memories. Just like the rest of Canada the northerners aren't embarasse to show off their red and white garb and always put on a great day of activities. My favorite part of the day was always (as you already know) the parades.

Oliver, 6 months.
Photo Credit- Jen Eichenberg

National Anthem, Cape Dorset.
Photo Credit Jen Eichenberg

Showing off our colors
Photo Credit Jen Eichenberg

Cape Dorset
Photo Credit- Jen Eichenberg

Candy Toss in Pangnirtung

Cars as far as the eye can see- Pangnirtung

More Colors- Pangnirtung

Oliver 6 months- Cape Dorset

This year I spent most of the day just Isaac and I. Nick had worked the overnight so he was in bed most of the day and Oliver was with my parents. We went to the midway that they had set up and spent a little time on the carousel and on the truck ride. Then it was time for the parade.

After Nick got up we went to get Oliver and had dinner with my parents and Grandparents. We had 'birthday cake' for dessert and sang Happy Birthday to Canada and talked about how we were so proud to live in this amazing country.

Happy Birthday Canada!

Backyard Fun

Five Years Ago

I married my best friend.

Thank you for being my partner in life and for supporting me in everything I try. Thank you for always making me laugh. Thank you for being the wonderful father I knew you would be. Thank you for the way you always provide for our family and put us first. You are a good man and I'm proud to call you my husband.

Wuboo.

XOXOXOX

No clean - No guilt.

When I read Jen's most recent blog post titled 'Not enough...' I had to laugh. A few night's ago I started to write a blog post on the same subject but guess what? I didn't have enough time to finish it! Jen has a much more poetic and readable way of writing on the topic but I feel like she took the words right out of my brain. I'm sure most Mom's parents feel the same way.

I have been working for a couple of months now and my days starts when my alarm goes off at 630. I get myself ready, get the kids up and out the door on the days they go to daycare and off I go to my office. By the time I get home again it's after 5 and I have 2 crying and/or whining kids who are begging to be fed. I count myself lucky if I get a few minutes to jump on the trampoline with the boys or take them on a quick bike ride around the block before it's time for bath and bed. I myself try to be in bed sometime between 10 and 11 because the 630 start time just about kills me by Wednesday if I stay up any later.

So. That leaves about 2 hours to do all the things that need to get done. However, since I've had kids I've adopted a strict rule that I don't do house work after the kids go to bed. That rule has softened some because sometimes you just need to get something done but I've tried my best to stick to my original plan. So that leads to my version of the suggested Neglect List....

- My floors are never clean. If you ever stop by unannounced you should plan to see Tank slobber stains and other pet hair. Especially on the stairs. You may step in stickiness from apple sauce that was dropped a couple days ago that may not have been properly cleaned up. You will most definitely see crumbs and food under the counters and bits of cereal everywhere. If I have the energy I will run my mini cordless vacuum over living room I do, but that's rare.

-Our en suite bathroom is always pretty nasty. If something has got to give, it's one of the first things removed from my to do list. I have learned that cleaning the toilet and sink in the kids bathroom while they are in the tub kills two birds with one stone but sometimes I'm too lazy to follow through on this great time saver. The downstairs bathroom... well, see the next item on my list.

-My downstairs is mostly unused at this point. That means unless I know someone is coming over that will want the tour, the dust bunnies have a nice cozy home down there.

-Cooking. My kids eat more chicken fingers, fish sticks and frozen pizza than I'd like to admit. I'm not very good at planning meals in advance and I hate reheated food for the most part so I feed them whatever is quick and easy. I do make sure they eat veggies and a healthy side with it but I miss the days when I had time to cook our favorites or try new recipes.

And those are just the tips of the ice burg. I want to say that I'm not proud to admit these things but they are the reality of my life and obviously I'm not alone. The sad thing is that most of the neglected things are the same things I didn't do when I was home with the kids all day. Spending time with my family, and frankly having the sanity that a decent amount of ME time gives me is much more important to me than a clean house. I envy the people who live in homes where everything is clean and put away at all times but I do wonder what they sacrifice to live that way. So maybe I don't envy them at all.

When the kids get older and don't need to be fed the minute I get in the door I'll have time cook again. I'll get to finish those projects that I don't have time to even think about now. I'll have someone to clean my house so I don't have to. Until then, the dust bunnies and I are living a peaceful co-existence and I choose to feel no shame or guilt over it.