The Stocking Set is Complete!

I really should have lit the fireplace for this picture.... but when you're trying to take a picture of stockings that seem to spin and all face different directions and you've got a excited toddler and a separation-anxious infant and a home-sick-from-school kindergartener all trying to squeeze into the picture as well, the last thing you want is a burned hand on a little screaming person.

Anyway, here's the kids' favourite Christmas decorations after the tree... their stockings. I'm so happy with how they turned out because I had no idea I would be making a matched set way back when I made the first stocking on a whim.

Mesh Produce Bag Repurpose

Have you ever thought what a waste it was to throw these produce bags away? I don't usually buy packaged and wrapped vegetables or fruits but there are a few staples that come pre-bagged that I routinely purchase.

Avocados are one such item. Obviously, you can save these bags and use them as your produce bags, which is the fate of the above pictured bag. But other than saving them for reuse or the random craft, do they have any other repurpose? They do - in the most unusual place...

Landscaping 2012

When we bought our house back in 2005, we knew there would be a lot of work involved with the yard. Little did we know that seven years later, our landscaping would still be a work in progress.

Here's a shot of one side of our backyard with the dragon's claw Jap maple in the foreground and my husband's latest accomplishments in the background. (I'm glad that we did some essential planting when we first moved in, so that we do have trees that are starting to look mature and provide shade.)

I have to thank DH for the three beautiful raised beds that house my vegetable and herb gardens. They've been such a blessing because, even though they still require a lot of weeding and tilling, they are infinitely easier to care for than simple, dug-out-of-the-ground vegetable gardens.

Take a closer look at the rocky edging... Hubby and one of our friends moved all that drainage rock in one afternoon. I was in awe at their perseverance and endurance and more than a little worried that I would be tending to an injured husband or friend afterward.

Here's the other side of our backyard. In the background, you can see that a border garden is in the works. We transplanted some very overgrown plants from a couple very overcrowded gardens to much more spacious digs.

In the foreground is a bleeding heart (almost in bloom!) and a yucca that I think will be transplanted to the front entrance containers - after reading some horror stories on the internet about how invasive they can be :(

The crazy thing is that even though we'll hopefully have all the building and planning work done in the next couple of years... the maintenance alone will keep us busy every year afterward. This year we had five yards of dirt and four yards mulch dropped off and it actually may not be enough!

And as if we needed more work to keep us busy, this is the scene in our front yard presently - someone (probably a family of racoons) is busy digging up our grass. Didn't they get the memo that our work queue is completely full?

Slap on Some Paint

It's amazing how a little paint can give a room so much personality.

With our third child on the way, we thought it was about time to start thinking about giving our two existing boys some proper bedrooms.

Strangely enough, our firstborn wasn't all that enthusiastic about moving into the old computer room/office. (But isn't it so appealing? :P)

That is until we started adding some colour.

With a little inspiration from the colour palette of the Cars (Disney) wall stickers that I had bought from Walmart....

...the room slowly started becoming more and more appealing to our 3.5 year old. (Benjamin Moore: tropicana cabana, louisiana hot sauce, desert tan).

He's slowly earning more and more stickers from the package for showing nice big brother behaviour.

And now, suddenly, we have a child who willingly sleeps in his room. Still need to buy him some furnishings... but we may wait until he's old enough to need more, since the brothers really seem to enjoy having all the empty space to run around in :)

Next project, the baby boy's room...