Life ¤ Love ¤ Laughter ¤ Linds

I'm getting older.  I'm thinking more about family, roots, and where we came from.  I'm remembering more and looking back at childhood - mostly fondly.  I've always found history engaging (in a let's read some intriguing and possibly romanticized historical fiction or listening to old family stories kind of way.)  I think family history is intriguing - but never sit long enough to ask the right questions or retain the memory of those conversation enough to recount the stories accurately.  I've always been a little introspective, a little retrospective so when I  found an example of this completed poem template while doing some random blogger exploration, it really struck a chord.    (Side note,  see the link at the top that says  "Next Blog >>>"?  Just click it to jump to a new random blog.)  Where I'm From I am from a swing hanging in my grandparents yard, from Kraft dinner and f...

There's something special about the little black dress (lbd).  Every girl should have one in her closet that she can pull on and just know she looks good.   Not overly sexy.  Not a bit frumpy.  Just a dress that fits her perfect and makes her feel good.  (Some girls might even have more than one.)  It's versatile and perfect for so many occasions.... I have so many little black dresses.  They're wonderful.  Different cuts, different fabrics.  And everytime I pull one on, I feel like I've still got it.   Sure I'm curvier.  And, yes, I'm still short.   My hair hasn't miraculously grown longer or thicker or wavier.  But I feel good.  Throw on some strappy sandals, black pumps or a pair of red heels for a pop of colour.   I feel confident, flirty, feminine.  Some days I even try them on just because I see them hanging there!   Now if only I had more places to wear them -...

This weekend was one of those weekends that just called for enjoyment instead of productivity.  Here is a breakdown of our not-quite perfect weekend: 1) Make it a long one.   I had Friday off.  Kevin did not so we were all up and ready before 6:45 so we could make use of the car.   I took advantage of having Friday off to do some running around and starting some projects (or mis-starting some projects) and we went out for dinner & ice cream (not on the meal plan -gasp!) after picking up Kevin after work.  2)  Make it fun!  Okay, so my definition of fun and the boys definition of fun greatly differs.  I was quite happy browsing Michaels and looking at paint in Home Depot.  The boys were not.  After dropping off Kevin, we had an early breakfast at McDonalds complete with playtime.  Then mommy did her running around and we stopped by the Farmers' Market (woohoo fresh Ontario produce!)  We all agree that the Farme...

Once, when I was much, much younger (how long ago 15 seems!), my friends and I were walking home from somewhere and decided to take a shortcut... through a field, over a fence, around a reservoir (or maybe just a pond).  We made it through the field no problem but I got stuck on the fence...and ripped my favourite jeans.  By the time we walked around the water and made it to the street again, it probably would have been much faster to just use the sidewalk. We also experience these snafus trying to navigate around traffic by taking unfamiliar backroads.  Different experience, same result.  You would think I would learn the lesson but sadly, no, I am forever trying to take shortcuts and then I'm left dealing with the frustration and annoyance of a plan gone awry.   The "proper" way is usually the best way. I recently had this experience creating my "Family Rules" project (woohoo!  It's done!) I failed to plan pro...

So I'd just like to say that arranging photos in my blog is a big pain in the butt!  Seriously, they're not going where I want and the formatting options of this entire entry just sucks.  Insert sigh of frustration, groan of impatience and a little foot stomping *here*.   Now on to the post... I thought with the arrival of summer, things would slow down just a wee little bit!  Apparently, that was just wishful think as it seems we've been going full throttle just having fun!   I've been doing really well sticking to our meal plan and avoiding the fall back of PizzaPizza or other fast food options (which we usually ended up doing once a week) and most of the new recipes we've tried have been HUGE hits.   I'll share them... but it will have to keep for another day.   Today, I'm going to show off some of the projects I've finished lately. Most were done this weekend - Kev took on the task of keeping kids hap...

I calculated to day that on average, I work 50 hours a week (without breaks - getting to the bathroom without hearing a little voice call my name is a wonder!)   I'm not complaining as the decision to provide home daycare has, when everyone is happy and occupied,  left me with flexibility to tackle little things around the house (or catch a chapter or two in my current read, waste time online, solve a crossword on my iPhone) but it means by the time my own kids go to bed (14 hours after rising!), I'm exhausted and my house is trashed!   (I don't know how teachers survive their days... I'm surrounded with maybe a third of the number of kids they are at my busiest time of day and it's enough to pull my hair out - if the baby hasn't already done it for me!) Which is why I love my all-too-rare girls nights with friends (even if it's just grabbing a smoothie at Dairy Queen), uninterrupted downtime with my Kobo, sleeping in and the elusive 'free weeke...

This time of June I always have a lot of men to think about.   Father's Day was celebrated, as was our anniversary.    This means trying to find heartfelt and meaningful gifts for dads x3 and something to mark our anniversary without spending a fortune, all while hoping they're actually appreciated by the recipient(s).   Why does it seem that this is sooooo much easier to do for women?  Our week seemed to be crazy busy as usual and days didn't go as planned - neither did my gift projects with the boys so we spent a lot of time Friday night trying to complete some last minute (but not unplanned) crafting.   The boys decorated a t-shirt (lots of messy fabric paint!) for Papa featuring their hand prints.  They took special pride in creating cards for Papa & Daddy using my scrapbook supplies - they love picking out the elements and helping to design the layout and even deciding which adhesive to use.  (FYI, the Xyron sti...