Tuesday 29 March 2016

Style Perspective: Colored Pants on the Hiking Trail

Finally sunshine and warmth here in Saskatchewan has found us once again!!!!!!  The weather was so amazing today that we ventured outside to soak up the vitamin D and work off the endless chocolate that has overtaken our pantry, cupboards, the girls bedrooms and my meal times.  I saw this post on FB and unfortunately it's pretty much bang on about how I have been feeling for the past three days. 

 

Logan, the girls and I headed out to do some hiking and we saw several chickadees that ate right out of our hands.  

What did I wear?  Well, I was inspired to wear my bright pants, which just happens to be the Blended Blogs style perspective stem for the week; make sure to head over there to see how others styled their colored pants.  I've been contemplating purchasing a spring colored pant but honestly I just haven't gotten around to it and I am kind of trying NOT to buy clothing right now.  Anyway  I dug out my fall/winter pair of maroon pants and just styled them to work for both mommy daytime and for the office.  What I wore today was the chambray, an old time favorite, the pants, my puffer vest, and rubber boots for the hike (I usually would have worn my lulu's but I was too lazy to change after taking a few pictures for the post) 

For the office, I'd style it more like this.

And I have to share with your this light, perfect for the spring, dove patterned, cap sleeved t-shirt, with a knitted back.  It'd beautiful, my pictures do not do it justice, but I know I will get a ton of wear out of it.  

 










Shop this post:

Chambray shirt:  Gap

Pants (similar and 1/2 price): RW & Co

Printed T-shirt: R.W. & Co 

Pumps (similar): Nine West

 

 
 

Sunday 27 March 2016

Easter 2016 Shenanigans


Easter was a whirlwind of family shenanigans.  My sister and her family were here from Victoria, BC for 2.5 days and we packed a lot into that time frame.  My nephew Alen, 12 years old, and Halie are pretty much inseparable, Anya mostly tries to keep up and tag along.  We started off by making our yearly, or almost yearly, Easter egg pancakes which the kids decorate with icing.  We then moved on to coloring Easter eggs and having egg cracking wars. For the last two years Alen has lost the egg war but finally this year he had a victoriously strong egg.  He was so happy!!!!!!

   

 

 

 

 

We had a large family dinner, my grandma, aunt, uncle, cousin, my parents, sister’s family, Maja’s family and us, at my parents’ home.  Halie and Alen are obsessed with magic tricks so we all enjoyed a free magic show performance as well, kind of like a dinner theater. 

 

Easter Egg HUNT!!!  This has become a tradition.  We are usually with Alen at this time of the year and the kids are always looking forward to it.  Every year I am searching for new ways or new clues to pull it off.  This year I found these printable clues.  I pasted them on larger foam eggs and hid them all over the house.  The kids love running around in excitement and searching for their Easter baskets.  Anya, though the youngest of the three, is definitely the one that takes time to think carefully through the clues and doesn’t give up too quickly.  The last clue had the kids stumped for approximately ten minutes but Anya figured it out and pointed the other two in the right direction.  A little conversation I overheard:   

Alen, “this is impossible” (referring to the last clue).   Anya, “Impossible means that we won’t find it but that’s not true, we will find it.”  

Finally, I wore my new pinkalicious top to our casual family dinner.  If you want to see more ways to style this top check out my previous post here.  Unfortunately  I couldn't locate this top at the online R.W. & Co store but you can pick it up at your local store for approximately $50 on sale.  


I hope you all enjoyed your Easter weekend with your families. 



Tuesday 22 March 2016

Mother - Daughter Time (it's never too late)


This past weekend I had an opportunity to spend a little one-on-one time with my daughter Halie.  These opportunities are few and far in between because I usually have both of the girls with me and if I am being completely honest until the last few years they haven’t always been the blissful mommy-daughter times that I had always envisioned.  When Halie was younger she tended to choose spending time with Logan over me, and Anya would only ever want me, which created and supported a habit of Logan being more with Halie and I with Anya.  Over the last few years there has been a big shift in our lives, as the girls have gotten older and our lives have slowed down tremendously.  In a nutshell this has been our life up to this point:

  •   Logan and I got married at 21.  I finished school and we bought our first house at 24.

  •   I got my education degree and bam baby Halie arrives at 25.  I had no job so I jumped at the job opportunity, full-time Kindergarten teacher, when Halie was 7 months old (one of the best decisions I’ve made because this has opened many doors for me and it provided us with financial stability.  Yes it was hard to leave my baby but it was for the better good).

  • Anya was born almost three years later.  Clingy, always craving to be held, needed lots of physical touch, etc. At the same time Halie went through a crazy terrible two stage, followed by the ‘fucken’ threes, which finally left her around the age of four.  (I know this is most peoples story)

  • Back to work full time for a year, then I decided that I would apply to do my Masters in Education: Curriculum Studies in the evenings, while working f/t and juggling the rest of my life.  Have I mentioned that I have the best, most supportive husband/family ever!!!!

  • I did that for two years and then took an educational leave from work, for one term to finish off my masters.  THIS CHANGED EVERYTHING FOR ME!  Slowing down and having time with the girls was such a wake-up call.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved the learning that I did and am extremely passionate about my work, but I was reminded that my goal in life was my family and my children.  Not having to work provided me with a lot of time to be mom to both of the girls.  It truly was a informational four months.  Now whenever I get caught up in work, managing all our social responsibilities, playdates, activities, having a clean home, I step back and think, “Does this matter?  How much?  At what cost?”  

On the weekend Anya had a birthday party and I decided to leave the laundry, vacuuming, dirty bathrooms, cooking, etc. and I choose to spend some time with just Halie.   We’ve been doing this more often lately, a couple of times since December and I treasure the relationship I am building with her, it’s never too late.  I told my husband that I didn’t want him to join us because we need that time alone.  We had a blast playing mini-golf, then visiting my mom at Fabric Land (Halie loves to sew so she helped me pick out a fabric for a skirt that I want my mom to make me).   We laughed, had some friendly competition, I gave her tips without her giving me any attitude, she filled me in on her school friends, she told me endless stories and all around was happy to rub it into her sisters face that she got to spend time alone with her mom!!!  :)  

Halie's first hole in one!  She was super excited. 

Lucky hole #13. 

She is getting ready to join her dad on the golf course this summer.

The fabric she helped me choose for my skirt.  : )