farewell Summer 2012

Pin It Summer is quickly coming to an end and my kiddos start school in just 5 short days. I'm not going to lie, I've been very emotional about this. I don't remember being this emotional when Kirsten started JK last year, but I guess now that I have both kids starting, I've just been a basketcase, lol. Who knew kindergarten could be so stressful! So many new changes for Kirsten and Camden going to school is just beyond my comprehension - I mean he's only 3 1/2. I'm not sure that he's ready, but we're going to take one day at a time. I'm not looking forward to next week and I'm sad to see summer go. Bear with me and my tears over the next week. Here are some pics from our fabulous summer. Lots of sunny days at camp, lots of fun days at the park, lots of friends to play with and lots of fun in general! Goodbye Summer! It was great.


















And finally - a pic of a hummingbird on the deck at the cottage. So cool.


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cute lunch idea: a flower quesadilla

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This adorable flower quesadilla was really easy to make. My kids have grown quite fond of quesadillas and I actually make them quite regularly for them. Head on over to Canadian Family to find out how I made it.

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come meet the newest members of our family...

Pin It So my kids have been begging us for a pet lately. The problem is, I'm a bit of a neat freak. I work full-time, I have 2 small children, I have this blog, the kids have their extracurriculars, not to mention all our other commitments. The thought of adding another responsibility to my life made me cringe. And, I'm a bit of a neat freak and the thought of animal fur all over my house is enough to send me running. I know all you dog and cat lovers out there wouldn't have it any other way, but it's just not for me right now at this point in my life. I researched animals, and came up with the brilliant idea of a guinea pig. Only guinea pigs generally like to have some company, so 2 guinea pigs. We've had these sweet little piggies for just over a month now, and they really are a great pet. They are about 3 months old, and they're sisters. They absolutely love their daily salad and they "wheek" with delight - guinea pig owners will know exactly what I'm talking about, lol. They love to be snuggled and the kids just love them. One down side - they poop A LOT! I clean their cage daily, but it really was a surprise to me just how much poop these sweet little piggies make. They have a 2x4 C&C cage and they just love it. We are so happy with our guinea pigs and they have made a really great pet for the kids. Here's a few pics of our piggies:

Puppy is our red-headed teddy bear guinea pig. She's a bit more skiddish than her sister. Puppy is Cam's guinea pig and he named her (although I think that's obvious, lol).


And here's pinky. Pinky is a white teddy bear guinea pig with a little red around her neck and ears. She has blue eyes. She's a bit more cuddly than her sister and definitely a louder "wheeker." Pinky is Kirsten's guinea pig, and again, Kirsten named her. She wanted a "girly" name, lol.


And here a some more pics of our piggies:










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my super soccer star

Pin It Our soccer season came to an end on Monday, and Kirsten had a wonderful first summer of soccer. Sure, sometimes she would rather pick the flowers and play in the dirt than kick the ball, but she still had a great time. Camden went to every single game and was a wonderful supporter of his big sister. He's looking forward to playing himself next summer. Here's a few pics of our last game. I got many more great pics of Kirsten actually playing, but I didn't feel it appropriate to post pictures of other people's kids on the internet :-)







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a silly salad

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A lot of people think that I'm so lucky to have kids that will eat pretty much anything. That couldn't be further from the truth. True, Kirsten has a healthy appetite and will try most things, but my little Cam is one picky little eater. Neither of them really like salad for that matter either. I made this silly salad for them and I'm pretty proud to say that most of the "face" was eaten. They may have even eaten a lettuce leaf or two too! To get the details on this simple salad, visit Canadian Family here.

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tissue paper water lilies

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Water lilies are my second favourite flower, second to orchids of course. I have been longing to photograph some beautiful water lilies for a couple years now, but I can never seem to find some at the right time. I'm still on my misson. In the meantime, I saw this fabulously awesome craft on Silly Eagle Books, and REALLY wanted to make them. Just another awesome craft idea from the wonderfully creative Vanessa. If I can't have the real thing, this will have to do. These were really easy to make and have been on display in my house for most of this summer. They really are pretty. Kirsten had a blast making them, and Cam really didn't want anything to do with it except scrunching up the yellow tissue paper centres. Here's how we made them:

What you'll need:


tissue paper cut into petal shapes - I used dark pink, light pink and white
green craft foam cut into lily pads
yellow tissue paper cut into small, thin strips
bottle caps - any size will do, but they do produce different results
glue

Instructions:

1. Put some glue on the bottom and outer sides of your bottle cap, and arrange a layer of tissue paper petals on the outside of the bottlecap. Press it up the sides of the outside of the bottle cap.


2. Now put some glue in the inside of the bottle cap and arrange another layer of tissue paper petals on the inside.




3. Put some glue on the bottom of the bottle cap and attach it to one of your green craft foam lily pads.

4. Put some glue in the middle of the bottle cap, scrunch up some yellow tissue paper strips and shove them in the middle.


These are our beautiful creations:






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