moome

The boys have gone fishing. The big girls are at a birthday party. Nya and I are home alone. This is rare indeed!! 

We have licorice and a Strawberry Shortcake "moome" (that's movie - Nya style), what more could we ask for?!

The Men in my Life: Of Like Mind

The apples from his tree - they didn't fall very far.

They're just like him!

bathroom update

This room is just taking FOREVER! But in the end I am grateful. I have been able to really think and re-think my choices which have changed, again and again. It is coming along though. And I hope that we will be completely done in a couple of weeks.

We ordered a faucet from ebay for 1/3 of the price as the same 1 here. It always makes me nervous though because I don't get to see it in person before purchase. 

It arrived. And it is just what I hoped it would be.

We now have the sink and the faucet. I have 2/3 of the room painted. Darren put up the light and started building the new cabinet. I hung the mirror. Things are slowly, very, very slowly getting checked off the list. 

 I had my sister-in-law {thank you Shannon} pick me up a light from Lowes in the States, but that was 1 of the things I changed my mind on and it will now be used for another project I have on my to-do list!
The light below I found at Home Depot. Can I just tell you how much I love this new light. I searched high and low, here and there and EVERYWHERE for a light I liked at a decent price.

disclaimer: I know when someone is sharing a renovation of their home on their blog I am always so excited to see the end result. I have by no means meant to build up this bathroom to be something super special. It is and always will be just a bathroom, but a bathroom that is a little more us than was here before.

birthday bugs

Last Saturday we went to the Victoria Bug Zoo as a family to celebrate Bergen's 10th birthday. This is all he wanted to do. As much as I don't prefer bugs in real life, (I like to pretend that I am tough and that I am really not afraid of bugs in the hopes that my children will learn that there is nothing to be afraid of. I can keep my cool...... until they touch me unexpectedly - then I scream and dance around until I am sure it is off, feeling for the remainder of the day that I still have bugs crawling on me) with a good glass case between them and myself I am all for it!! This place is fascinating. 

Nya meets Pinky, the tarantula!

 Emma going in for a close-up.

 Nya held out her hands to touch every single bug - most of them bigger than her hand.

 And just before the batteries died in both of the cameras we brought with us I was able to get this picture of Bergen. 

He is the only 1 of the kids that would brave the millipede on his face!

Bergen, You came to me 10 years ago as the best Mother's Day present I have ever received. I love your energy. I love your laugh. You are such an amazing son. You are such a talented person. I am in awe of watching you grow and seeing your many talents develop. You are so dear to me. Thank you for your late night hugs. Thank you for being my son. Happy birthday, love mom

a fair divided excellence

I have been wondering what to do above our bed, and have been trying different ideas, but nothing really seemed to work. I wanted it to look very relaxed and random. Then I saw this post from At Home. Jaimie has an amazing eye and an inspiring home decor blog. And she just so happens to be a fellow British Columbian - an Islander even! Maybe someday I will get the chance to met her. She has created the most beautiful vignette in her home (I love the pinwheels she made! I think they would be so great at a birthday party or a shower even!). So inspired by her I was able to take items I already had around the house to do my own version and fill this space with things that are sentimental to me. 

Being over the bed, I of course had to think practically. Everything is attached to the wall or to the window attached to the wall, so they won't be falling off in the middle of the night (or when our children go jumping on the bed!!)

When Darren and I were married our good friends Jeff and Toby gave us a card with this Shakespeare quote on it - it has been my very most favorite ever since.

36!!

In the post below I said that we just celebrated Darren's 35th birthday - well he is actually 36! He left a comment letting me know the mistake I had made. Sorry Darren. I will correct it. It must be because you are so young at heart! Happy 36 birthday.