The Winter That Won’t Ever End
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| Sledding at a local park. See? Winter fun! |
Then things started to get dodgy.
Sidewalks turned into tunnels, and we thought “Surely, this can’t get any worse. It’s MARCH for crying out loud.”
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| The walk to the babysitter’s. |
But Winter is a cruel one. She hissed “Don’t call me Shirley!” and dumped MORE snow on us …
Our driveway started to look like a valley between two snow mountains. Darling Husband actually had to MOVE SNOW to the backyard, just so he had room to shovel the NEW SNOW.
The snow crept higher and higher, until you could literally walk off our front porch (over the railing) and not bother using the steps.
My poor Dad, who lives in southern Ontario (a.k.a. The Part of Canada That’s Warm a lot and Everybody Has a Pool) was in shock over the snow … especially the day he had to help Darling Husband shovel THREE. SEPARATE. TIMES.
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| See the big smile? Darling Husband likes to shovel. (For some reason) |
The back yard was becoming unrecognizable, but March wasn’t done with us yet …
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| I think we were trying to spell “SAVE US FROM MARCH!” in snow footprints. |
Darling Husband had to shovel a legit CHAMBER to get to the shed.
Oh March. When are you going to ease up on your icy grasp, and let us break out the sneakers?!?!
For now, we will have to resort to Instagramming collages of how our yards *used* to look, and hoping that the kids don’t outgrow their new spring jackets before they get a chance to wear them …
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| Happier (warmer) times |
Dear Mommy Wars, here’s why you frustrate me
(Updated March 25, 2015) Wow! I was thrilled to be contacted by The Huffington Post this afternoon about reprinting this piece, so you can now find the full text over there. Getting published on HuffPo was one of my career goals for 2015, so I’m incredibly pleased. It’s like getting a big shiny trophy, only without having to dust off an actual trophy. 🙂 🙂 🙂
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| Could this be my favourite screen-grab to date? I think so! 🙂 🙂 🙂 |
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Dear Facebook friends,
Trust me when I say I didn’t mean to stir anything up by sharing that HuffPo article everyone is talking about. (It was written in response to this one.)
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| Read the full article here |
I read it quickly, noticed that she was a freelance journalist (like me), agreed with several of the points, and shared it along with a comment along the lines of “these are some of the reasons why I’m choosing to stay home and freelance at this point in my life.”
See, no daggers! No accusations! I certainly wasn’t out to pee in anyone’s Corn Flakes, or however that expression goes.
The first couple of comments on my shared post were other moms who have chosen to stay home with their children while they’re little, and they agreed with the post wholeheartedly.
But then the working moms started commenting, and I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach …
The unexpected absense
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| One of the many dreary, grainy iPhone photos I took of my temporary home |
Yep, I was unexpectedly living in the hospital. FOR FOUR DAYS. Following a totally and completely unexpected MAJOR SURGERY. (Sorry, being stuck inside for a million years makes me cranky.)
I promise to write more soon, once I stop feeling so dizzy and nauseated every time I look at the screen of my Chromebook (I mean, for purposes OTHER THAN binge-watching Full House).
I just wanted to briefly explain that, yes, I still remember I have a blog, and I dearly miss you all. Now go out your back door and run around, or go to the store, or something, and then leave a comment telling me about the outside world.
xo
7 boredom-busters for March Break
I can’t believe next week is March Break. The kids are still too little to have no idea what it is, so they won’t realize anything is different until Monday rolls around and we don’t drive the preschool carpool.
Since we’ve been having horrrrrible weather lately (So. Sick. Of. The. Snow. OMG.), I figure we will need some major indoor entertainment.
So this week in “The Mom Scene,” I’m talking about seven ways to keep kids busy that don’t involve iPads and LeapPads or pads of any kind.
“… I’m not really the parent who plans educational activities, but I “invented” an activity that felt sort of science-y. It started when I found a couple of rock-hard bags of white sugar on the shelves in our basement. I Googled how to soften it, and it sounded like a ton of work. So I dumped a bag into a shallow plastic container, set out a bowl of warm water and some measuring spoons, and let my daughter go wild.Â
I called it “Snow Sand” (patent pending) and she loved dripping the water over the sugar to watch it melt. After the sugar had thoroughly turned to mush, we made a brand-new activity out of washing out the plastic container in the sink. She’ll take any excuse to stand at the sink and pretend to wash dishes.”
Read the full column here. May your March Break be merry and somewhat whine-free.
xo
DIY paint chip art
There are three things that I must do every time I’m in a hardware store: check the discount tables to see if there are any good deals, walk down the spray paint aisle — there’s something Zen-like about those glossy caps in all the colours of the rainbow — and, finally, gaze at the paint chips.
I can’t explain exactly what it is about them. The thickness of the cardstock, the beautiful colours, the promise of changing an entire room for a $50 can of paint. I just love them.
In a perfect world, I’d scoop up a handful of them during every visit, but I’m a follow-the-rules girl and I’d feel too guilty doing that. So I only take a few, here and there, when I actually need to decide on a colour for a project.
 Last weekend, I attacked my paint swatches and started pulling out strips with the colours of our home’s main level — shades of turquoise, aqua, and green — as well as cool-toned neutrals like white and grey …
Continue reading over at My Handmade Home …Â
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