Update Squish

I'm going to try and squish some of what we've been up to in one post. We've been so busy these days, I can't even remember half of what we've done. There has been no furniture painting of any kind lately - we've been too busy and having too much fun to devote any time to craftiness around here! Morgan hasn't complained about not seeing any paint brushes in his fridge lately.

The first most exciting piece of news is my sister gave birth to a perfect little baby boy named Benson a couple weeks ago. We all get to meet him in 2 weeks when we all head out to Victoria. I would include a picure of his perfection except that they are saved on Morg's phone. I am so excited to meet this chilled out little guy!

The second most exciting piece of news is that my 3.5 year old little girl is potty trained. After months of her refusing to go on the potty, she finally decided it was time. In spirit of celebration, we all put on our underwear and danced aroudn the house. Just kidding, only Mason did. For Easter (wow I haven't updated in a while) we got together with some good friends and their kids and did a pot luck/ easter egg hunt/ basketball game afternoon party at our church. Morgan would say it's never too early for our kids to start practicing ball.

Showing off our mad skills.

The kids after the egg hunt ( I guess these aren't in order)

Enjoying the delicious spread of food.

The kids waiting patiently to start the search.

Running like crazy trying to find treats.

My kids having a snuggle together. I'm not sure why this turned out sideways.

Morg pulled out all the stops for my birthday - we enjoyed dinner at the Keg. I hadn't been there since we lived in Ottawa. Mmmmm salmon.....

And dessert at the rotating Calgary tower restaurant.

The look out point. There were people around so we didn't get to make out. Just kidding.

This was much scarier than it looks!

The kids discovered a new fun way to eat lunch. Who needs chairs and a table?

What Mason looks like every morning after his favorite blueberry shake.

Elizabeth is old enough to ACTUALLY help out around the house now, instead of just pretending to, and therefore creating an even bigger mess for me to clean.

We went to the provincial park down the road for a little hike as a family one morning.

Hopefully next time we go the water will be warm enough to dip our feet in.

Morg and I have been looking for fun and different ways to work out. We went as a family to the Memorial Stairs and each took turns going up and down five times as the kids played in the grass at the bottom. We are pretty competitive with each other so it helps put a little extra jump in our step hahaha.

We've spent a lot of time at local parks. This night we met our friends Carrie and Tyler there and the girls tried to coordinate a dance number on the stage. It didn't last very long.

We still have a lot more to update but that'll be it for now. We just spent a wonderful couple of days in Lethbridge with the Kyle fam and I'll be waiting for Morg to download those pics off his camera for another future post. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and get to spend a lot of time with family and/or friends!

Pottery Barn Inspiration

Here is the beautiful Pottery Barn "Mia" wall sconce. They retail for about $69.00, EACH. I found these Shannon Crystals at Homesense for $3.00, on mega clearance - obviously no one wanted them because their purpose was very unclear - are they for decorating wine glasses? napkin rings? who knows.

These are yet again my $4.00 Thirft Store black wall candle sconces - painted white.

It took me a while....but I played around with the crystals and the clasps and was able to come up with a configuration that used all of the crystals equally between each sconce. A little sewing thread and a couple drops of hot glue helped out.

They will never actually hold taper candles, since one of them is a bit crooked - and because these are in my daughter's room....

The 3 vases were also a thrifty find at 0.99 cents each.

While my chandelier sconces don't even come close to the Pottery Barn "Mia's" , with break down of $3.50 each I don't mind having the homemade ones.

My Kids

My friend Angela's photography business has taken off over the last couple years and she was looking to try something different than her usual request for family photos. We had a play date one morning and she decided to experiment on the kids for something different. I love the photos she took and here they are in the kids' rooms. Photos courtesy of Angela : Elizabeth adores horses.

Mason sitting with his car. His vintage cars were supposed to be decoration but they are too fun to let them sit on his shelf.

Antique Dresser

My friend Laura asked me if I wanted an old dresser about a month ago. Laura's parents had just bought new bedroom furniture and were looking for a new home for their 50+ year old dresser. Laura didn't have room for it in her home and thought I might like to have a new project. When I saw it I fell in love! Morgan kindly went and picked it up for me again, and it sat on our back deck for a couple weeks until the weather cooperated with me finding time the time to get started.

Here is the before. The dresser was in such great shape structurally and the hardware was perfect already, just missing one. The original castor legs are my favorite. My workshop - our backyard, when it's nice out. After. The colour I used was called "inspiration white", a little warmer than a bright white. The hardware got sprayed black and I bought 2 new black antique style knobs to make up for the missing piece.

I think this is my new favorite piece of furniture. Thanks Laura's Mom!

Kyle Family Update Via Photos

Here are some things we've been up to this month.

Elizabeth colouring in her princess dress. Grandma Kyle sewed this dress her to wear at Kenny and Britany's wedding 2 years ago but lately it's been her pick for what to wear all day. Wearing my shoes. I don't think I know any little girls that don't like shoes.... Elizabeth had a slumber party (minus the slumber) with her friends Kendyl and Emerson. We had popcorn and watched the Princess and the Frog but that lasted all of 5 minutes and the girls just did summersaults and cartwheels all night.

Elizabeth and Morgan had a mini photosession together. Here, she is pensive....

Sleepy?

Finished?

Dad's turn.

And Mom's? Excuse the creepy face.

My cousin Steve came for a visit and we loved having him around for a couple days!

We went to the zoo to see our gorilla friends.

Steve taught Mason to step down a stair all by himself. His legs are still pretty short for this though so he usually wipes out but he still seems pretty proud about trying.

Awkward snake slide. Maybe not a good idea for 2 people?

How about three?

That's it for now. We are enjoying another 4 days off with Morgan again though most of our time will likely be spent inside....potty training. I swear I'll be able to post someday soon about the success of our almost 3 and a half year old peeing on the potty. Heaven help me.

Flower Urns

Spring has been a real tease. Not because we've had little bits of sunshine, but because we've had lots of it - though just not quite enough to get summer flowers outside yet. For instance it's been warm all week and this morning we woke up to snow. That's Clagary for you.

I found these flower urns at the Thrift Store. They were nice and big, though plastic and stone coloured.

One can of black Plastic Spray Paint later, and the urns could almost pass for the expensive heavy clay ones that I keep eyeing inthe stores and then walking right past. I stuck my indoor flowers in the pots to dream about how they sort of might look with bright summery flowers in them. I spent half an hour at Home Depot today talking to a very kind elderly lady in the garden section who was also eager to get started. She had been all over the world (I think she mentioned countries in about 4 different continents) and had so much knowledge about plants and flowers and their seasons. I wished I hadn't felt so rushed - I would have loved to hear more of her stories!

For now I guess these will wait on my back deck until mid-April when the outdoor potted flowers hit the stores. Oh, and you can see a peek at my new (old) dresser that's been waiting for a paint job for about 2 weeks on our back deck.