Grass

Another gorgeous day here in Vancouver, felt like the middle of July!  Sydney and I had a fun day today at gymnastics, running a few errands and then having a fun playdate at our friend Tracy and Alexis' house.  We had such a nice time relaxing in the backyard while the kids played!  It felt so good to get some sun and be outdoors for most of the day!

Am a bit pressed for time tonight, so will keep today's entry short.  The photo a day for today is 'grass'.  Here's what our backyard is looking like these days:

Paul has been lovingly giving our grass fertilizer and reseeding areas where we've decided to remove some plants, it just keeps looking better and thicker and greener everyday!

Kind of makes you want to kick your shoes off and go for a walk on it, doesn't it?

Mother's Day

 
What a wonderful, wonderful Mother's Day I had today!  We woke up to the most spectacular morning, sun shining, blue sky and twenty degree weather!  Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day!  Before I had even woken up this morning, the text messages and e-mails started pouring in from my Mom friends wishing me a Happy Mother's Day!  I love having a community of Moms that I share Motherhood with!

When I got downstairs to the kitchen this morning I found a very special card waiting for me that Sydney and Daddy had written together.  Inside was the sweetest, most thoughtful words.  Daddy tells me that they were directly translated from what Sydney told him to say to me.  It was such a lovely way to start my morning!

I got a beautiful card in the mail from my Mom too and one from my friend Sarah:

We hung out together at home for a few hours this morning and then headed over to Paul's Mom's house to see her.  Every year for the past several years we have searched high and low for beautiful lilacs that we could pick to give Paul's Mom for Mother's Day and it has become a wonderful tradition of ours to hunt them down and bring them to her every Mother's Day.  Today Paul found an amazing bunch of lilacs and it was so nice to see the look of joy on his Mom's face when she smelled the fragrant blooms.  You could just tell that the smell brought back wonderful memories for her, it was very sweet!

Paul took Sydney and I to the Mother's Day brunch at the Richmond Country Club today.  Sydney got all dressed up for the occasion in her sweet little halter dress.  It was such a sensational brunch, everything from omelette and waffle making stations, to perogies, salmon, lamb chops and eggs benedict along with the most amazing salad and dessert bars.  They really outdid themselves this year!  We ate and ate and rolled out of there happily stuffed!

This afternoon Zach came by and the four of us spent the afternoon just lazing in the sun in the backyard.  It felt like a long, lazy summer day!  Paul told me for my Mother's Day gift this year that he was going to let me loose in the liquor store with his credit card to buy myself a case of wine, as I'd been going on and on about all these great new wines that I was dying to try.  I was meant to go out this afternoon to choose my wine, but just couldn't bear to leave as we were having such a lovely time together relaxing in the sun!  I'll have to make a special trip to the wine store to pick up my present a little later this week!

Sydney was such a good girl all day today, it was almost as if she knew that today was a special day and that she should behave for me!  As I was putting her to bed tonight she looked up at me and said, completely unprompted, in the sweetest, smallest voice "Happy Mother's Day".  It brought tears to my eyes.  I am so lucky to be a Mom and have such a sweet, sweet girl!  She is the best thing in my life, hands down and I truly do love being her Mom!

Speaking of Moms, the photo of the day for today is, of course, meant to capture Mom so here's a picture of my Mom holding Syd when she was just a couple of months old.  I sure did miss being with my Mom today, although I did have a wonderful chat with her on the phone.  Am looking forward to her coming for a visit this week! 

Happy Mother's Day to all of the great Momma's I know out there!

Backyard BBQ

What an amazing day it was today!  The temperature must have gotten up to 23 degrees, it felt like a summer day!  We had such a nice day together as a family today.  Early this morning Paul fired up the power washer and cleaned the entire indoor atrium area that our house is built around.  It looked so amazing when it was done, clean as a whistle and fresh and new!

While Paul was power washing Syd and I were getting a few things organized around the house and decided to pull the patio furniture out of the garage for the season.  It's always a special day when that happens, truly means that summer has arrived!  We got it all set up in the backyard and ready for dinner outdoors!

While we were lounging in the backyard in the sun I decided to paint my toenails.  Sydney just couldn't resist getting hers done too, and much to Dad's shagrin, Mom obliged.  Her little feet looked so sweet with nail polish on them, although I have to admit that I like the look of her sweet little nails all fresh and natural the best!!

We headed out to run a few errands and have a quick visit with Zach at his new apartment.  While I was out, I picked up a couple of bottles of wine at the liquor store and these two teeny tiny bottles of pink bubbles that I am saving to take to my friend Lori as soon as she has her little baby girl, which could be any day now!!  I can't wait to toast the new sweet babe with her and these fun bottles of champagne!

This evening we headed over to our friend Ryan and Christina's house for a barbeque along with our friends Lori and Marcus.  It was such a beautiful evening and we had a great visit with everyone!  Christina is a lovely host, makes everyone feel so comfortable and at ease!  She made the most amazing burgers with Portobello mushrooms in them, delicious!  The kids played so nicely too, they were just happy to be outside and roaming free. It was a great evening together!

Today's photo of the day is 'something that makes me happy':

Sydney's new strawberry sunglasses, I love them, they are adorable on her and I love that the sun is shining and she gets to wear them so much these days!

We've had a wonderful start to our weekend, looking forward to a fun filled Mother's Day with my girl tomorrow!

Back in the Saddle

 
This morning started super early....like before 6am early.  I was heading to the office with Paul to help him with a surgery case that was starting bright and early this morning.  Sydney was meant to spend the morning with her Auntie Elaine, but at the last minute she couldn't watch her, so instead she and Paul's receptionist Tamara spent the morning together playing at Paul's office while I assisted with Paul's patient.

Poor Syd wasn't quite ready to get up so early.  I put her to bed in a t-shirt and leggings instead of pajamas so that I could just pick her up right out of bed and pop her into her car seat early in the morning.  I packed a basket full of snacks and toys, crayons and stickers and lots of fun things to keep her occupied for what was meant to be a couple of hours.  Poor kid ended up being there for five hours as the surgery ended up being much more involved than we had anticipated!  She had a fun time playing with Tamara but was so happy to see me when I finally got back to the office!

It actually felt really great to be back at work for a moment.  Paul and I have always worked so well together, it really reminded me of the great synergy that we always had working as a team!  It was a fun morning and good to dust off the old assisting skills for the first time in a long time!

Paul and I spent a fun afternoon with Syd after our busy morning, went for sushi together and then to Dunbar Park, Sydney's latest favourite haunt. 

It was a full day and I am fast fading so will make it a quick post today!  Had to include some pictures of this tree which has just gone into full bloom in our garden, it is so colourful and beautiful!!

The word for the photo a day for today is kitchen.  Here's my kitchen:

I really do love my kitchen.  I spend the majority of my day in this room, cooking, cleaning, chatting, making memories with Syd.

Here are a few of my favourite things in my kitchen:

The fruit bowl, Sydney loves taking all the fruit out and telling me what each piece is and peeling all the stickers off the fruit:

My garlic keeper.  I have started a collection of this pottery made by a local artisan and love this speckled blue garlic keeper!

My cluster of bottles.  Everything I need to whip up a quick salad dressing or to get started cooking dinner!

My Kitchen Aid stand mixer, my absolute favourite kitchen appliance!

The bay window.  Where my plants and fresh flowers live and the spot that overlooks the backyard.  This is my view while I'm doing dishes, I love it!

Busy Day!

 
What a busy Thursday we had today!  The day seemed to fly by in a blur!  Lots of fun though!  First thing this morning I made a batch of my No-Knead Cheese Bread which had been sitting on the counter for 24 hours and was ready to bake!  It turned out so well with huge pockets of cheese inside!  Sydney loved it, ate about a quarter of the loaf for breakfast today!

The weather has been absolutely amazing for the past few days, warm, sunny days, feels almost like summer already!  The other day, Paul, Syd and I were out for a walk when Paul dropped behind a couple of paces.  When he caught up with us again, he handed me this:

I love lilacs, absolutely adore the smell and was so happy to see that they had started blooming already! 

Sydney headed off to school today with a special friend:

Her class had a teddy bear picnic today, it was very sweet.  They made homemade trail mix and then took their bears outside, laid down a picnic blanket and had a story time and picnic outdoors.  It was so cute!

When I came to pick her up, she handed me this:

It's a magnet for the fridge, she painted the background paper and the teachers cut out a poem, laminated them and put magnets on the back for each of the moms in the class for Mother's Day.  It was so sweet!  My first Mother's Day gift especially from my girl!

While Syd was at school I took the opportunity to drive to South Granville to check out the opening of The Latest Scoop, a pop up store that has found a new space for the next six weeks.  I have had such good luck shopping here in the past and was excited to get some new things.  I came away with just one thing, this very fun pair of super skinny turquoise stretch jeans:

I also picked up some beautiful ceramic birdhouses that I am going to deliver to a few of my Mom friends along with cards for Mother's Day tomorrow afternoon.  I have so many amazing moms in my life and wanted a way to acknowledge how much their presence in my life means to me!

I also hit up Anthropologie and got a great pair of cream linen pants and a top.  I am loving that my wardrobe is slowly being built up again!

After school we headed downtown and met up with my brother for lunch.  It was fun to have a visit with him and catch up on what he's been up to!

Today's Photo a Day picture is 'a favourite word.'

Synergy is one of my favourite words.  Wikipedia defines it as:  two or more things functioning together to produce a result not independently obtainable.  I have found synergy a few times in the past with work colleagues and friends, but didn't fully understand the word until I had a baby and realized what a beautiful and perfect synergy she and I have together.  


Happy Thursday to you all!

Midweek

Another beautiful day in Vancouver today!  Apparently we are meant to have a good run of weather for the next week or so, bring it on!

Syd and I had a great Wednesday today.  We went to her art class this morning, decided to get her latest canvas framed and got to bring it home today.  It is so cute!  I hung in her playroom, which is turning into a full on art gallery for all of Miss Syd's work!

After art class, we drove to my friend Sarah's friend Maryna's house to pick up a couple of custom made dresses and earrings that I had made for me.  Maryna is an up and coming fashion designer in Vancouver and her company, Mateelda Design, is fast taking off!  I was so excited to finally get an LBD (little black dress) and a fun black and white dress along with some fabulous new hoop earrings from her today!  Can't wait to go back sometime when I've got some time to see what other great pieces I can find in her collection!

The photo a day for today is 'something I do everyday'.  I don't know why, but I instantly started thinking about mundane chores that I do everyday and then realized I wanted to capture something I actually enjoy doing every day!  Here's my photo:

I could write an entire blog on how much I love my iphone!  For someone who doesn't exactly love technology, I really have an ongoing love affair with this phone and would be lost without it!

I am a texting machine, I must text at least a hundred times a day back and forth to my family and Mom friends.  It is such a convenient and efficient way of staying in touch with people without having to pick up the  phone or sit down and type a long winded e-mail!  I love it!

An Afternoon in the Sun

 
My friend Sarah and I decided that we wanted to get our girls together to play this afternoon after they were both out of preschool.  We hadn't really nailed down our plans, just left our afternoon free and after a few phone calls and text messages decided to meet in Kits at the Capers and walk with the kids to the playground.

It was such a beautiful day today, sunny but not too hot, the air was sweet and fresh.  It felt so good to be outside with no coats on and to watch Emma and Syd run and play and enjoy being outdoors without being bundled up! 

The park that we went to had lots of wild flowers growing in it.  Sydney decided that she was going to pick me a bouquet and spent the better part of a half hour running around picking flowers and delivering them to me.  I had great plans of saving them all and putting them in a vase when we got home so that I could get some pictures for the blog, but alas, they never quite made it home!

We stopped for a coffee at Arbutus Coffee on the way home.  Sat outside on a tipsy table that was pointed straight downhill.  My coffee cup kept sliding right off, it was hillarious!  We sat next to a guy with possibly the cutest puppy I have ever seen in my life.  Sydney was enthralled with it and it loved her back!  Kept peeking around the flower box between our table and stretching out to see her, it was so sweet!  While we were sitting there,  our friend Kate happened to walk by and sat down to have a visit with us, it was a lovely unexpected visit together! 

It was such a lovely free and easy afternoon.  Made me long for the long lazy days of summer when we have little to no scheduled activities and can just let the day slowly unfold before us.  Love it!

Today's photo of the day is inspired by 'a smell that you adore':

I do adore this smell.  I often bury my nose into Syd's hair just to get a whiff of her and the sweet smell of Johnson's baby shampoo.  I'm going to use this shampoo on her as long as I humanly can just to preserve the smell of my sweet baby.  In fact, I may just pack a bottle of it in her suitcase when she leaves for college....best smell in the world!

Hope you had a happy Tuesday too!