Memories and Cleaning

Today and probably tomorrow, I am cleaning out closets. I really don't like it, but it needs to be done. And people are coming on Saturday. No, I'm not afraid they will look in my closets, it's just that I have stuff around the house that needs to go away - in those closets - and there is no room. The one good thing about cleaning out all the crap is that you find a few things.

Like Little Miss' baby book. Truth be told, I'm terrible with baby books. There's a page, maybe two filled out. That's it. It's just not my thing. This blog is more my thing. A place to keep memories. Finding this book reminds me that I love blogging. I love recording our lives here, in this medium, not in a book. Blogging just resonates with me. Baby books don't. It also reminds me that I don't have to be good at everything or do everything. I am happy to love Little Miss and tell her all the things that make her special. But please don't make me write down things in a baby book. And poor Mr. Man. I'm not sure if he has a baby book. If he does, I've never written in it.

I also found this. A Kirby kite that Mr. Man made almost two years ago now. He's too big for it, or so he tells me. He no longer wants it, but I have fond memories of him running down the sidewalk with the Kirby kite flapping behind. It brings a smile to my face. So I guess cleaning out closets isn't all bad.

Flower Boxes

 We live on a corner lot. And this is the side of our house. There used to be a very large tree on the corner. It was beautiful. The canopy was large. Although it was close to the road, it hid the side of the house. Now we're left with this.

I took this picture a few weeks ago so the garden has begun to fill in around the deck. The satellite dish can come down since it was left by previous owners. It just hasn't happened yet. The wires have to stay. Well, if we want hydro they do. I've tried to resurrect the grass. We'll see. The awning which is hidden by the magnolia tree will be painted, but I'm waiting until it's consistently warm at night so the paint can cure. Soon. I'd love to replace the awning with something beautiful, like a singled porch with pillars, but that's not happening anytime soon. I'd love to re-do the side walkway. It's a mess. A big mess. Pavement (driveway) to gravel to interlocking stone to gravel to old concrete sidewalk. That's the path you take to get to the side door. Horrible I know. It was like that when we bought the house. And unfortunately it will have to stay that way for a little while longer.

But not all hope is lost. There is one thing we can do.

 Thank goodness for this man.

For Mother's Day he built me flower boxes. In one day. Well, an afternoon really. See the strange box in the middle? He even figured out how to build a flower box around the deck post. Clever man.

Beautiful flower boxes painted a charcoal grey. 

They are filled with flowers that were once in hanging baskets. The grocery store had an amazing deal on hanging baskets. I took the plants out, pulled them apart and replanted them in the flower boxes. Quick and easy - just the way I like it.

Now the walkway may still need to be blown up, but at least I am somewhat distracted by the beautiful flowers in the lovely grey flower boxes. And it doesn't look quite so bare.

Birthday Party - Angry Birds Style

Today Mr. Man turns nine. Nine! On the weekend he celebrated with his friends - Angry Birds style. Using PicMonkey we turned the above picture into party invitations.  (I was about to share it here when I realized that once I blocked out all the personal information, it well, didn't look so hot. So just imagine fun colourful words in red and green inviting you to a fun Angry Birds birthday party. And oh, the pigs were wearing birthday party hats.)

Before the boys arrived we set up the Angry Birds bean bags that I'd been working on earlier in the week.

And the pigs of course. Because the birds wouldn't be angry if it weren't for the pigs.

Using boxes from the grocery store, the boys built a real-life game board. Placed the pigs. And then hurled the Angry Birds bean bags at the pigs and boxes.

Again and again and again.

 Next it was on to throwing birds in the air and then water balloons at each other.

Followed by a pinata.

And cake. Simple, easy and of course angry.

I think, maybe, just maybe he had a good time!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Man! You are loved.

Sharing here:

Thursday

Today (like yesterday) I am getting ready for Mr. Man's birthday party this Saturday. Can you guess what these are going to be?

Today I am dropping off a stack of yummy cinnamon rolls to the school's dessert party.

It's an annual event that's been going on for, oh, 50 years or so. It's our second year. It's a huge event. Everyone is excited.

Today I am searching for socks. Not just any socks. Mr. Man's socks. Currently he has six (probably more) single socks that are in need of their mate. How does this happen, you ask? Um. He takes his socks off in the strangest places. Which means I'll be looking in and under everything.

What are you up to today?

Sneaky Peakies

Yesterday we celebrated Sneaker's first birthday. I can't believe that this eight pounds of furry fury is a year old. He is much loved.

Party hats and treats filled his day.

Happy Birthday little Sneakers!

Planning

This week we are planning.

Planning a party to celebrate Mr. Man's 9th birthday next weekend. 9! Can you guess the theme?

And planning a party for this crazy one. Oh, little Sneakers how you are loved! He turns one on Monday. The kidlywinks want to throw him a party. There were going to be invitations, puppy friends and cake. I think I've talked them into a quiet celebration with just us. We'll see who wins. But oh do they love their puppy so.

Building A Smoker - Part 2

While the girls were enjoying their Mother's Day Tea, the boys were busy installing windows at my parents' place. Andrew did get a few moments to work on his smoker though! These photos were taken at an earlier smoker building session. You can read about the first part here.

To build the smoker, Andrew formed two barrels. One large and one small. It involved a lot measuring, welding and grinding.

 Measuring.

 Welding.

 More welding.

And still more. Slowly, it's coming along.