Finally!

After living in our house for over 7 years, we've have found a solution to the big blank canvas over our tub.

It's been driving me crazy, but I don't frequent stores that carry home decor, probably because home decor is the LAST thing I pull my wallet out for. Yet, the big yellow wall glared at me.


Mark came up with the idea to put up photos of our vacations. But since we aren't world travelers I couldn't imagine what we would possibly put in the frames.

As I've been scrapbooking our photos, I finally found some that I thought would be worthy of the wall...changing the theme from "Vacations" to "Family Fun."

I finally carved some time out of a trip into the city, and hit Ikea and bought some frames. And, for the record, I even bought the second lowest price ones...not the cheapest!

The result....

I LOVE it! Every time I go into the bathroom, I'm filled with good memories; memories that remind me that I don't ALWAYS nag about cleaning rooms and memorizing time tables; memories that give me joy.

I'm reminded of a time management course I took back in my working (out of the house) days. The speaker (David Sweet, who is now MP for Anacaster) told us of how every morning he would go to get a tie out of his closet. They were all jumbled together, and it always took a while to find the one he wanted. One day he bought a tie organizer, and was surprised to discover how much negative energy his disorganized ties had been sapping out of him every day. He encouraged us to take care of the little nagging things in life, in order to get the energy/drive to help us take care of the bigger things.

I've finally learned my lesson. Guess I should go fix the pulls on my roman blind that come undone every morning.

What are you going to tackle?

Hockey Cards

I mentioned earlier that I was having trouble coming up with a hockey card design this year. (I make them every year for the kids hockey club...) Well, while looking through a photo editing gallery, I came across a picture that had been edited using the Zoom Blur Filter. I scraplifted the idea, added stars and names, and they're done!

You'll notice that our kids all have different jerseys on. Our hockey involvement consists of a group of friends renting ice, every other week; dads coaching; working with the kids for 1/2 hour of drills and then 1/2 hour of scrimmage after. We LOVE it! It's a great way to get some exposure to the game, without donating body limbs to the local organization.

Shannon asked if she could do ballet this year, but the time and money commitment was a little larger than we were willing to give, so she readily agreed to play hockey with the boys. She's done really well. Chatters and giggles the whole time she's on the ice. She's entertaining to watch.

Brent seems to be getting more involved in the game this year, a little more aggressive in terms of going for the puck, getting involved in the play; a little more intention to his stride.

Devin would live on ice if we let him. He's glad we have some older players this year to challenge him. His cousin Josh is one of the coaches, and he's always sure to tell me when he was able to "deek" Josh out, or steal the puck from him!

Daaaaad!! Can you come help?!

This is what happens when you don't follow your father's advice and stay on the trail he groomed for you. Fortunately for Devin, this happened in the back yard, and not the back 40!