A New Play Area in the Making

The upstairs landing of our house is a decent size. It's not just a narrow hallway with bedroom doors... it's not humungous, but there's a bit of space to move around in.

After we set up the train table at Christmas time, Jonathan and I decided to put it in the upstairs hall and turn it into a little play area for Edison - the man with many toys.

The walls were rather blank, they didn't scream "fun kids play area", so I've been keeping my eye out for something cute to decorate the walls with in his little area.

I didn't want to spend a ton of money and when I found these cute little wall cards by Children Inspire Design on for half price, I thought they would do the trick nicely.

Edison, playing with his trains

Observe the boring walls

I ordered the wall cards online and they arrived in the mail a couple of days ago. I love getting things (other than bills) in the mail! So, I unwrapped my little parcel, got out my trusty glue dots, and away I went...

Our happy little boy

DIY: Family Tree

We have lived in our house for almost two years now... which is hard to believe! The whole time we've lived here, we haven't had anything on the wall above our fireplace in our living room. It's a pretty awkward space because it's indented in an arch shape.... so we never knew what to put there. Do we put a square framed piece of art? Do we put a circle mirror? The arch shape just totally threw me off and I wasn't sure what would look good.

One day I was shopping around and saw this picture frame kit that made a family tree when all the pictures and shapes were hung together. Right away I thought it would be a great fit above the fireplace and sure enough, I think it looks great!

We had to hang a template first so that you knew where to put all the nails 

TA DA! 

A Gardener in the Making

My Dad and Renata came for a visit this past Sunday. We spent most the the day hanging out outside, giving my yard and garden some much needed TLC. The grass was long and the side planter in my yard was filled with weeds. Last time Ren was here we planted a bunch of seeds and I've been afraid to weed it and pull something out that was in fact, not a weed. If you don't know of my weed vs. good plant issues, click here to read an older post.

Edison had a great time watching all of us working around the yard. While the mowing was taking place, he played in the safety of our deck. Then, while Ren and I weeded the side area, Edison helped by raking the dirt for us. He also wanted to help plant some seeds... he was so very helpful and cute.

Watching his Grandpa mow the lawn 

Walking all by himself! 

Honking the horn while riding his dump truck 

Raking the dirt 

A soon-to-be scrumptious strawberry 

Heliotrope... pretty much the best smelling plant ever! 

A little lettuce! 

Trying to plant seeds

Examining his (empty) packet of seeds 

Showing them to me

It was a fun day. Thanks Dad and Ren for all your help! The yard looks lovely. Everybody will be back next Sunday for Edison's 1st birthday party! Only a few more days and my baby is going to be ONE! How crazy is that?!?

Plant or Weed, That is the Question

I love plants and flowers, they make me happy. They remind me daily of God's awesome creativity.

Jonathan, on the other hand, who may think flowers look nice, has a strong dislike for them "because they have bugs". I could write an entire blog post on Jonathan's loathing of bugs... like the time he almost burned our house down while trying to set fire to ants outside our front door. Jonathan will not eat at a table with flowers in the center, he will always move them elsewhere while eating... so the bugs don't get into his food. I find it quite amusing... he probably thinks otherwise.

While I love plans and flowers....my knowledge of them is minimal, to say the least. Up until the last year and a half we were living in a basement suite, so I didn't have the opportunity to plant things... other than a couple indoor plants that I tried very hard not to kill.

My Dad and Renata can attest to the fact that my knowledge of all things plant related is pretty much zero. Which is funny because anyone who knows my Dad and Renata knows that that is the industry that they work in. However, I'm not a total lost cause. I'm learning as I go and as each spring and summer comes and goes I'll know a little bit more about what to do than I did the year before.

Last summer my Dad and Ren helped me plant a bunch of perennials in the front of the house... and by help, I mean I made them do it all because I was 9 months pregnant. Perennials, as I've learned, are the types of plants that come back again each year.

This spring my Mom and I went through the front flower beds and cleaned it all up, ripping out the weeds and the dead stuff from last year. I had to ask my Mom a few times whether something was a plant or a weed.

About a month ago I was walking to our neighbourhood mailboxes and I saw a bunch of plants growing around them and I thought to myself "That plant looks exactly like one that I have in front of my house". I went home and sure enough it was exactly the same. Then I thought to myself "Hmmm, maybe that's not a plant but just a weed and thats why they're growing all over the place by the mailboxes". This is how sad I am: I took a picture of the plant with my iPhone and emailed it to my Dad and asked if it was a plant or a weed. He informed me that it was not a weed but a plant called a Lupin... I sure was glad I didn't go ahead and rip it out! This past week it got the most beautiful, huge white and purple flowers on it.... and so did the ones by the mailboxes. So, now I know.

Renata must seriously go home and laugh at me sometimes. A few weeks ago they were visiting and I said to her "Look at my herb planter on the deck, aren't my herbs growing so well", and she said "Ya, but you should rip out that huge weed in the corner". Well, I almost died! I though the weed in the corner was an herb!! I still laugh when I think about it... and I sure am glad I hadn't eaten it!

Here are a couple pictures of the Lupin, which I now know is definitely not a weed:

Here are a few other pictures from the front of my house this year:

Cacti Galore!

Jonathan, Edison and I recently had a nice visit with Jonathan's dad, Tom, at his house in Surrey. While we were there I took a few pictures of Tom's many cacti. I'm not exactly sure how many he has... but it's a lot! Some of them are really interesting to look at; my favourites were the ones with the beautiful flowers on them.

A few months ago, he had a cactus that took a fall on the balcony and broke into many pieces. He gave me a few of the pieces to take home and plant myself. Apparently you take one of the broken paddles, stick it in some dirt, and it will lay down some roots and continue to grow. It's a prickly little thing and needed to be handled with tongs. Some of the prickles are so little, they are hard to find if they stick into you. Needless to say, this is one plant that will be kept far away from the little hands of Mr. Edison.