Pruning the bush

I made a goal of completing my porch decor for Christmas - in time for December 1st.

I was the house on the street that still had the pumpkins out - GASP! - I know right?! Brutal!

Oh well - the pumpkins have moved ti the side of the house (and are till waiting to be placed at the curb for garbage)

Hey my job is done - planters, wreath, lights - check.

Now Mr. Mom needs to toodle those pumpkins to the curb on Tuesday.

I am fortunate to have a friend and colleague who lives on a farm. For the past few years she's let me 'prune her bush'.....(giggle)

We plan a date and I head over there in with my pruning shears.

She has such wonderful things like dogwood, spruce, milk weed, tall grass with fluffy stuff on top, and many other shrubs that could use a trim.

The best part about this year was the Missy Z was able to experience snow for the first time. She wasn't too sure what to think - but enjoyed being carried though the property.

Mr. O always has a ball because he can run up and down the path, and though the brush.

My friend always has cats on her farm as well - and being such an animal lover, Missy Z. was right in there checking them out.

SO without further ado - here is the final product!

Nice bush eh?

Maybe there is such a thing as November Blahs

A few posts back I mentioned that November flies by - and how as a kid the month of November seemed to take forever to complete..

 Well I'm feeling a bit of the November Blahs...

The month is flying by - and yet there hasn't been anything that has inspired me to discuss on the blog. 

The kids are well - having fun with one another.

 Mr. O is doing well at school and telling us about some inside jokes him and his friends have developed. I don't quite grasp the concept, but he is buckled over in laughter - so maybe the jokes on me? (I'm guessing this is just the beginning of that)

 Mr. Mom and I have been able to spend more evenings together- which is SO nice. We have somewhat figured out a good evening routine for the kids (finally)... but guaranteed - someone comes down with a cold or flu and we'll be at square one again... sigh.

 I am debating on outdoor planter decor - but really have been unmotivated. (random squash and pumpkins are still on the porch) 

Not sure what my deal is - since December is just around the corner.... Oh well.

 Mr. O and I did a craft together at the beginning of the month - we gave it to one of his friends who really enjoyed it! Other than that - not too much new here.

 Once I find my motivation, I'll definitely report back... until then..... enjoy a lovely Pintrest inspired craft....

1st Birthday and the return to work

That's it - here and gone - SO quick.

Missy Lou  turned one and I have returned to full time work. Where does the time go?

Thank-you for all the Birthday wishes - and thank-you for a wonderful weekend filled with cake, laughter and love!

I was chatting with a girlfriend who's 1st born turned 1 this summer - she hit the nail on the head when explaining the size of the Birthday party- "it was pretty much a small wedding".

Yep - inevitable - 1st Born, 1st grandchild, 1st - 1st Birthday - it will be huge.

Mr. O's 1st Birthday took place over the course of 3 days - WAY too much! So we tried to scale back...

Missy Lou's Birthday was a two day event - 2 parties which co-incided with Thanksgiving.

Party #1 was a Dora theme - complete with A 'map' for a scavenger hunt, purple 'backpack' (or buckets) to hold all scavenger items, a Pinata (of Dora... slightly creepy - yet hilarious as the kids loved to smack the crap out of it), and of course the cake.

On the hunt....

Party #2 was what I'll call the PINTREST party - everything was inspired by Pintrest.

The Pintrest inspired decorations worked out really good!

embroidery hoop + fabric+ "1"+ ribbon

tissue paper + pipe-cleaner (click here for tutorial)

'clothes line' of pictures documenting each month

balloon weight - small glass jar +  4 boxes smarties + #1 candle

But I think my most TRIUMPHANT Pintrest inspired idea was the Zebra Cake....

she was Marvellous!
 SO Delicious too:

Piped with reverse shell technique - you tubed it that morning! (Icing took about 1/2 hour)

Now Missy Z - didn't want to get her hands dirty - and actually didn't eat/smear/wear her cake (which was too bad as that is probably the best part of the 1st Birthday) - However she did enjoy her cake the next day :)

Here is the Zebra Cake Tutorial. I did use the Betty crocker mixes - as they were on sale for 88 cents that week - The cake was moist and quite enjoyable!!

We all had a ball - and slept REALLY well that night.....

... and then bright and early the next morning - my alarm went off and that was it - Mat leave over - 1st Birthday came and went.... and I was off to the clinic.

Meet the Teacher and "rocks"

Our first "Meet the Teacher" night was a success.

It was completely nostalgic for me.
All the memories came back in a flash - going to school "after hours",
walking to the class room,
and seeing your teacher (and the slight awkwardness of 2 different authority figures in your life...in the same room).
I totally remember those days.

The report on Mr. O was great.
He's a very contentious and meticulous - (he gets that from his mother..tee-he wink).
He has the attention span to school work like his father (...moves through it quickly - or 'tires' easily...tee-he ..wink).
It's hilarious to see these qualities reveal themselves at such a young age.

Missy Z. quite enjoyed the classroom as well. Making friends where ever she goes - definitely not an overly shy child when faced with other kids - especially those with stuffed animals. She was chasing a boy (who's a student in the class) around the room because she wanted to go "awe" (which includes a snuggle and kisses) to the stuffed puppie. He was a bit freaked out - but eventually allowed her to touch the toy. She had a ball - and made her self at home in the class.

I think the last hilarious moment today was when Mr. O told me that his teacher had a house.
Can you remember those days when the realization that your teacher actually left the school - was an actual event?!
They actually had a home - and didn't live at the school...
....I'm pretty sure I was way past JK when that concept actually materialized in my mind.

Lastly I wanted to share a small project that was created for Missy Z. She loves sparkly things. Right out of the womb the girl gravitated to credit cards and diamonds. I'm pretty sure it's apart of her genetic blueprint. I can truthfully say - nothing was directed to her to 'like' these things, she found them all on her own.

Missy Z's grandma found a sewing notion that was a strip of 'faux diamonds'. Z. went nuts for it - giggled and smiled every time she saw it. So, with further ado - here is Z's first tennis bracelet:

small piece of elastic hand stitched to diamond strip

no worries - it's not tight - those are just adorable wrist rolls

...But don't be fooled by the rocks that she's got - she's still Zoomer from the block.

Eat your heart out J-Lo.

"Do I get to come back?"

"Do I get to come back?"

You heard it right here folks - He'd like to return to Kindergarten!

As we were walking up the staircase to the school doors, O was hanging on pretty tight to my hand.  He was peering around me to sneak a peek at his new school.  He was nervous to go into the class to meet the teacher, so we all sat for a minute outside the door to look around and become acquainted with the surroundings. From his perch he could see our church windows - which he immediately said "I didn't know they were brown?!" (meaning the window casings) then Mommy added "isn't that a nice contrast to the brick? - and then Daddy pointed to the cross that was fastened to the wall above O's seat and said "look who's here"... O looked up, smiled and said "Jesus..... that's good". Then we entered the class room.

Along with his teacher a sea of toys, tiny hooks, cubbies, colours and letters filled the room. We chatted with his teacher - found out which bus he'd take (when the time comes) and finally had a look at all the toys.

Z and Daddy were ready to leave (as per Z's loud exclamations from the corridor) - so I told O we had to go. Then I heard it...

"Do I get to come back?"

You sure do big guy - you sure do.

1st day of Kindergarten

One more BIG sleep

One more BIG sleep -

Our son is headed to JK tomorrow - yes it's only a 15-20 minute "see the class room, meet the teacher" but it's a huge day. Last night my O was asking what my Kindergarten class was like. Through a foggy memory I was able to recollect painting, singing along to the teachers guitar, climbing the jungle gym at recess, and the most prominent memory - the smell of sandwiches and lunch meat. Yeah you know the smell - it always seems to accompany new a new plastic, fresh waxed floors and fresh off the press photocopy smell. Ah - the first day of school.

Thank-you to O's "Gaga" (aka Gramma) this is the book we are currently reading:

Here's a link to amazon

Pintrest inspired project #1

A few months ago I re-pinned a DIY project to do prior to the first day of school. See it here.  I have completed the project and it's ready for tomorrow. What it is - is a art canvas, painted with chalk board paint. Here's what I used:

Art Canvas, sponge applicators, chalk board paint

Here is the finished project :

I can't wait to show you this project in action in the "first day of school picture" ..... one more BIG sleep...