22/52

“A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2015.”

The backyard pool has been set up and so begins hours of splashing, laughing, playing, and fun. You pretend to be mermaids, fairies, horses, penguins...and I am constantly in awe of your imaginations.

Joining in with Jodi for the 52 Week Project.

Eight

Every year on Bridget’s birthday, I wonder aloud to myself how she can be growing up so quickly. Eight years old already; it seems like only yesterday that I was going into her room after nap time to lift her out of the crib....and now....goodness, it is so true when people tell you that the time goes by quickly...they are not kidding.

Here is my girl on her eighth birthday:

My husband took this picture when we were out for lunch to celebrate her special day, and I think it is an absolutely amazing picture; it captures her perfectly.

I used several patterned papers from the Porcelain line by Basic Grey on this layout, and especially love how using a patterned paper for the base of the page looks. I wanted to keep the focus on my picture so I kept my embellishments to a minimum.

This is the last layout for my 2014 album (yes, I am feeling a great sense of accomplishment). I’ll do a post soon about how I put my albums together, so stay tuned for that. Until then, happy scrapping!

In the Garden

Last week was a worrisome week in the garden. After all the planting we did, there were a few nights with the threat of frost so we had to run about and cover all our plants to protect them. Even with taking the necessary precautions I was still concerned - it was so unbelievably cold outside. Thankful everything survived just fine and we are looking at warmer, more seasonable temperatures this week.

The cold did do the tulips in, so I am glad I got this picture before they started to fall apart.

This is my Happy Flower Garden and I love how it looks all summer long, with different things blooming at different times. It runs along the side of my deck and I have a chair there that I love to sit in; it is one of my favorite places.

Every time I get on my knees and work my hands into this soil, I feel a deep sense of calm. I can breathe deeper and easier, and I feel truly at peace. Is this the magic of gardening? It sure feels that way to me.

This week, I am hoping for some rain, and wondering just how long I have to wait before I can start snipping fresh herbs (I just planted them last weekend) from the garden.

21/52

"A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2015."

Your first soccer practice. You got your own jerseys and balls and had so much fun running around the field. And we had just as much fun watching you. Stopping for ice cream on the way home brought even more smiles and you both declared at bedtime that it had been "an awesome day".

Joining in with Jodi for the 52 Week Project.

The Vegetable Garden: Planting

Over the weekend we planted our garden. This is the first year that we will have two raised beds and we are really excited to grow a variety of vegetables.

In this garden we have planted tomatoes, peppers, beets, leeks, carrots and garlic (which was planted in the fall).

And in this garden we have broccoli, cauliflower, kale, spinach, lettuce and quinoa. We had not even thought of planting quinoa until we saw it at the garden center and decided to give it a try; apparently you can eat the leaves....who knew?

Lucky for us, the many rabbits that live around our house have not eaten any of our new plantings.

With some watering and tending, we should be enjoying delicious veggies from our own garden this summer. We can not wait.

Proud Reader

Good Morning!

Today is a holiday here in my neck of the woods and it is also time for another sketch challenge over at The Memory Nest - in other words, an awesome day.

Here is the sketch:

I love all the layering on this sketch, which of course translated to a lot of layering on my layout. You may recognize this photo - it was the first photo I posted here for my 52 Week Project; it is one of my favorite pictures of the girls ever.

I used papers from the From Me to You line by Pebbles Inc. for my layout.

I especially like the paper that looks like an old newspaper; it fits the theme of this page perfectly.

I love how this page captures such a precious moment between my two girls - Claire learning to read, and Bridget embracing her big sister role by helping Claire along.

The incredible work by other members of the Design Team can be seen over at The Memory Nest.

Have a wonderful day, I'm off to do some crafting on my day off.....

20/52

"A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2015."

Bridget: "We are going to the park!"

Claire: "See you Mom, we'll be home for supper!"

This week you two rode your bikes to the local park on your own while Dad and I stayed at home. A little independence for you, and a whole lot of letting go for us.

Joining in with Jodi for the 52 Week Project.

Three Things

Three things that made me smile this week:

So much love from my girls on Mother’s Day; such sweet messages in these cards, written from their hearts in their precious handwriting.

My tulips blooming in the garden.

A beautiful Gerber Daisy from my Mom for Mother’s Day.

Hope you have found lots of reasons to smile this week.

The Zoo

We spent this past Saturday at the zoo. The weather cooperated perfectly; after a few worrying raindrops on the windshield as we drove into the parking lot, it cleared up and we were able to enjoy a full day outside marveling at the incredible animals.

The girls were excited and amazed for the entire day. It was precious to watch their faces as they watched the animals, and to see them running from one place to the next eager to see all they could. This was Claire's first trip to the zoo, and the first trip Bridget can remember (we visited when she was 18 months old) so their wonder was completely justified.

One of the highlights was most certainly the Giant Pandas who are currently visiting from China.

We were also amazed to see the Hippopotamus walking around his enclosure rather than sitting submerged in his pool. 

It was a really great day and we all had an incredible time. 

For me though, I was quite saddened by how many animals and habitats I read about that are threatened and endangered. Obviously I know this is an issue, but I don’t think I really grasped the extent of the problem, the horrifying degree to which we are plundering and destroying the earth...it is something that has really weighed on my mind since our visit, something that I am definitely still processing.....

Right now I can only say thank goodness for all the conservation efforts being made, though it sure seems like there should be more done. There are incredible animals on this planet....and they need to be saved, so that future generations can experience the excitement and wonder that comes from seeing them.

Mother's Day Cards

Good Morning!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day.

We celebrated all the Mothers in our lives with coffee and cake on Sunday afternoon. I baked a Carrot Cake (my favorite!!) and tried a new recipe, Raspberry Ricotta Cake...both were delicious.

I also made Mother’s Day cards.....very simple ones, as I was running a little short on time.

I used this latest sketch from The Memory Nest for inspiration. Another sketch saves the day, as I was quite determined to give handmade cards, yet was at a loss for design ideas.

There is currently a link up over at The Memory Nest if you are inspired to create with this sketch and want to share your work.

19/52

"A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2015."

We spent Saturday at the zoo, and it was a day of wide eyes and loud exclamations of "Come here, there is something amazing to see!"

Joining in with Jodi for the 52 Week Project.

Purple Flowers

Right now there are purple flowers blooming in my garden.

Hope you have some pretty blooms where you are; flowers make everything better.

Joy

Joy – the word that immediately comes to mind when I see this picture of my girls with their cousins at Christmas.

These munchkins have grown so much.

This is my last Christmas layout for my 2014 album.

(It felt good to pack away all my Christmas papers and embellishments when this layout was complete....it is too weird working on Christmas stuff when we are on the brink of summer)

Hope you are having a great week.  And getting some crafting done – which always seems harder when the weather is beautiful, right?

10 Random Facts About Me

Today I thought it would be fun to share ten random facts about myself. I always love to read these kinds of lists on other blogs, and never having done one in this space, I figured there was no time like the present. So, here we go with ten random facts about me:

1. I went to German school every Saturday morning for 12 years. I can read and understand much better than I can speak, and even though I did not love every minute of my time there, I am glad that I went  as it made it possible for me to fumble my way through a German conversation, and gave me a greater appreciation for my family heritage.
2. I played the clarinet in my high school band. I was terrible at it, definitely more honking than music.
3. When I was in university I wanted to be a doctor. I changed my mind when I realized that a harried, on-call, super busy lifestyle was not for me.
4. I used to work at Baskin Robbins and Dairy Queen – at the same time. Therein lies the source of my (recently kicked) ice cream addiction.
5. As a child I collected stamps. And Garfield figurines. I still have both of these collections in my basement.
6. After seven years working part time (and loving it), I went back to working full time hours in October 2013. It has been a challenge, to say the least, and I often have moments when I wonder how in the world I will get everything done without losing my mind.
7. I have been eating a mostly plant based diet for the last year and a half – lots of fruits and vegetables, very little dairy, and rarely any meat. I have lost weight, have more energy, and feel better all around.  This has been a very positive change for me. 
8. I love a good deal. I am always looking for a bargain. I’ve always been this way; I even bought my wedding dress off the sale rack.
9. I started getting a lot of grey hair about four years ago. I fought it for a while, but have since decided to just embrace it. There are other things I would rather spend my time and energy on....that is not to say that I never shed a tear when I look in the mirror and see all the arctic white highlights I have...an on-going struggle for sure.
10. One of my favourite movies of all time is “Gone with the Wind”.

Hope you enjoyed this list...I had a lot of fun writing it. Any random facts about yourself that you would like to share?

18/52

"A portrait of my girls, once a week, every week, in 2015."

Claire: "Mommy, watch how fast I can go!"

Bridget: This week you finally mastered riding your bike without training wheels. You were so proud of yourself.

Joining in with Jodi for the 52 Week Project.