my garden.

my dream has always been to have my own garden. when we moved into our house, i was so excited about the prospect of being outside and digging in the dirt, that i completely forgot in those fantasies that i was about seven months pregnant! in those days i was consistently exhausted from being pregnant, chasing after a two year old bear and living with the tumour on my pituitary gland. any one of those circumstances alone is tiresome, but triple the effect and it's kinda amazing that even got out of bed daily!


so, to my shame and shagrim our garden was a disaster. my parents would visit, and within an hour or so my mom would be out there trying to make sense of the weeds. it was embarrassing. we didn't have any of the right tools for maintenance either. check out the grass in the second picture; dear hubby would try to cut it with scissors! oh, boy!

but, we've come a long way baby. the wild flower seeds that we threw into the yard have taken and now after a few years they are growing beautifully and continue to seed more and more of the garden. i love them. their bold colours are so summery. my perennials are thriving and things are finally taking shape.

this week my succulents are exploding with flowers. 

the kids made some decorations for our porch (can you spot them?) and then ate apples! 
check out their cute new hair do's too!

it's getting hot, hot, hot again here.


come find me and follow me on twitter (@bearandlionmama).

twitter!

i keep forgetting to mention that i am now on TWITTER!!! i'm still new and slowly learning the ropes and symbols and the flow of it all. 


come and check me out @bearandlionmama.


see you there!

july 1st : true north and free.

july 1st is canada day, eh!!! 

here are some ideas i have collected from pinterest for the cannuck in you get in the spirit of things, eh! 

what to wear, what to eat, what to decorate, what to DIY, eh!

source

source

source

source

source

source

source

source

source

source

O'CANADA, eh!

red and white, all the way, eh!

bring it on all you 

touque wearing, 

beaver tail eating, 

timmy's double-double slurping, 

HBC blanket cuddling, 

CBC watching,

bear & moose loving,

hockey playing, 

whatever generation of o'canadian you are!

it's time to kick back with a beer, eh!

bear is a climber.

there's a cool, some might even say a cold breeze in town. the northerly, fresh air meant we layered up in denim and hoodies, before heading to the park this morning.

bear went to climb. there is a climbing wall at this park and he loves it. i think it's time for him to hit the climbing gym down the street from us and really push himself.

the kiddo's had a wonderful time just the two of them. each day they seem to become closer and more loving with each other. that's in between the wrestling and tattling of course!


CHECK OUT THESE ADORABLE BROTHA'S!

two requests, with a side of sangria.

i have TWO requests of you, my readers...


1. the brain tumour association of canada is still accepting donations for their spring sprint campaign. if you are interested in sponsoring me, please follow this link. the event already took place, but brain tumour research needs funding, trust me i know.


2. i have been reading cornerblog for a while and loving all of tiffanie's pictures and tales. today, she has a serious request for a little friend of hers who is looking for bone marrow donor in the states. please, please, please read her blog, sign up as a donor or at least pass jake's story along so that he can receive the help he needs to get strong and healthy again. no child should have to suffer.


****
last night we had a lovely, boozy night in our backyard with friends. 

we started the evening with wine sangria and ended it with potent vodka sangria! i made some fancy ice cubes inspired by tiffanie at cornerblog: lemonade, blueberries, lemon wedges, yum!

we ate burritos and devoured ice cream sandwiches. summer fun!

it was a night filled with non-stop conversation, laughter and the sharing of lives. for a change, us adults talked more about our own lives than the kids'. we chatted for hours about travelling and it was the kind of talk that made me want to run inside, pack a pack and head straight to the airport, buy a ticket and just go. just go somewhere new and exciting with my family and live out an adventure.

one funny travel coincidence that revealed itself in our boozy haze... can you believe we stayed at the same absurdly tiny and freaky hotel (chunking mansions) and ate at the same aussie restaurant in hong kong? our visits were only a year or so a part and long before we had kids or were friends. but, what the odds?

the big kids played and played and played. when the sun set and it got dark, we gave them flashlights and the boys turned into avid owl explorers. it was the funniest and funnest game to watch. the littler kids crashed out; one up in bed, the other with his mama.

but, instead of buying a plane tickets, today dear hubby bought us a sofa. sigh. 
so it goes, i suppose.


pictures of the sofa chaos to follow. 
lotsa boxes and giggling little dudes!

...

~ this moment ~ 
as inspired by souleMama; one photo from our week, no words. only an image to sum up our time as a family, one that captures a moment in time and is a visual reminder of where we were at this moment.  

(i forgot to do it last night, so i'm doing it now on saturday AM).

last days of preschool!

just a quick post tonight.


today was bear's last day at his preschool. tomorrow is his graduation.
i am feeling such a mix of bittersweet emotions; sad that my guy is growing up so quickly and needing me less, but yet so happy and proud that he is growing up into a lovely, sweet little person. he of course is confused that he will never have his teachers as teachers or play with his buddies in that environment again.


here he sits. the top pictures are of him this morning at the school doors, and the bottom two were taken in september on the first day of preschool. the shoes he's wearing there don't really fit anymore, and doesn't the hat look smaller in the top pics? maybe i'm not seeing things very clearly as my eyes are so blurred with tears...

i will post more pics tomorrow from grad. 
not sure if i should wear mascara, might be too much of mess with all the crying and sobbing i will do!

hot tamale!

we here in southern ontario, canada are experiencing a bit of heat wave. the temperatures are over +30c, but then throw in that typical oppressing, summer humidity and it feels like about +40c!
too hot for me.

the humidity makes me grumpy. heat i can tolerate, but not with humidity, unless of course i am at the beach! the kids suffer too. today, we headed out early and went to the splash pad one town over. our city doesn't open splash pads and wading pools until after school is out, which is end of june. and even then the wading pools don't open until 11am, which for us is late to heading out, i mean that's almost lunch and then nap time!

[ SOURCE ]

today, it felt like it was too hot to cook. 
so instead of baking the scrumptious piece of salmon i bought, i made a simple lentil and veg soup. chucked everything in and let it simmer on a low heat for a while. we also had some yummy homemade bread with salmon cream cheese and dill, a fresh green salad with all sorts of goodies like chick peas, raspberries, cucumber, tomato, and then we also shared the tiny bit of my famous cucumber and dill salad. 

so good. i actually served the soup warm, instead of hot, which made it more enjoyable to eat. that caused a light bulb to turn on above my head and i have decided to find some cold soup recipes! summer yum!
we  threw back some water and (alcoholic) apple ciders as well.

the kids had homemade yoghurt pops for dessert. i made yoghurt/banana/blueberry smoothies and poured them into these silly rocket ship moulds and voila, a yoghurt pop! the boys love them, especially on these uber hot and muggy days.

well, the weather experts are predicting cooler temps, so fingers crossed they are right. this mama needs a break from this!

sofa shopping.

we had a wee mishap at our house the other day. our couch collapsed onto the floor while three adults were sitting on it. technically our couch was a futon, dear hubby and i purchased many moons ago before we were married, while living in the big city. it was the first big ticket item we bought together and i remember what a big deal it was!
this is how we're living now. the kids LOVE it!

we have been very reluctant to buy a nice grown-up sofa. it's a lot of money, but really, it's finding the one we like love enough to spend about a grand on. yes, we could go with buying second hand, but i worry so much about bed bugs (which are a problem not so much in out city, but in surrounding communities). plus, because our house is full of second-hand items we love, we thought it time to grow up just a tad and buy an adult sofa.

so, we headed down to IKEA (so grown-up, i know!) and sat and chatted about the sofa we want.
it's this one...
MÅNSTAD

pretty, eh?

and look at how it open up...

the chaise opens up for storage, which would be the perfect spot for extra pillows and blankets for guests.

we haven't actually purchased the sofa yet, but we're feeling strongly about getting it. we like the look, the feel, the size and the price all fit our needs right needs. 

i mean, sure i would love to buy this from our local furniture store downtown..

[ SOURCE ]

but, it would cost about $2000 after taxes, we' have to change the upholstery, and the chaise is fixed and it doesn't open up into a bed. but, this beauty is made close to home by a danish company, which are factors i really appreciate.

sigh.

maybe one day. when we have some more space fill and more money to spend!

on our drive home we had to detour due to a crash. the evening was beautiful as we watched the sun slowly set.

the kids just slept....
today was the first trip lion has experienced as a forward facing passenger. we turned him around so he'd get more A/C, he loves it so, so much!

good night!