green and brown thumbs...

I have an extremely brown thumb... my grandma and my mom have the most dazzlingly sparkly emerald green thumbs you could imagine... but not me, my thumb is a sad and dirty brown. However due to my feisty spiteful nature I was determined this year to grow some plants just to prove that I could to a certain husband who shall remain nameless...

And if you will take a look below all three plants that me and my mom have purchased and planted are all still ALIVE and well!!!!!!!! hooray!!!!!!!!

Now I may not be able to take all the credit for the status of my plants... I have had some help as of late from a little munchkin who seems to have inherited his thumbs from his grandma and great grandma and it is a nice shade of green! So here is a photo journal of a day in the life of a good little gardner.

{to be a good little gardner you must always protect yourself from the elements... a hat is a must!}

{to be a good little gardner you must also survey your land, take photos, notice detail... (Rupe snapped this photo while I wasn't looking, pretty good for a 1 year old!)}

{to be a good little gardner you must locate the brown thumbs and keep them at bay with your pointer finger}

{to be a good little gardner you must find a watering can to fill with water}

{to be a good little gardner you must pick the watering can up and bring it to the hose to fill with water... you may need to do this multiple times even if there is water in the watering can already...}

{to be a good little gardner you must inspect your plants carefully and touch them gently or you may get a smacked hand from a brown thumb.}

{to be a good little gardner you must also look adorable wearing a hat and carrying a watering can.}

{and lastly to be a good little gardner you must know when to relax and enjoy your garden... yesterday was a work day, today was a play day!}

Hope everyone is having fun in the sun! We certainly are!

Table Top Tuesdays...

Well my fine friends... Colin's aunt, my aunt in law :D ... the lovely Colleen of Vintage Home has started Table Top Tuesdays and I have decided to join her! A chance to see the ever circulating items that I use to adorn my table top! I know you're just dying to know haha! Anyways here we go :D

I love polka dots! I think they add a sense of whimsy to pretty much anything. Seriously wish little boys could wear polka dots but they just can't... polka dots are for girls and thankfully I am a girl! So I can buy all the polka dots I want for myself, just not for Rupert!

Anyways, on to the items. The big bowl I found at Value Village 2.99... perfect for storing delicious summer fruit. It's so funny because it is not a piece that I would usually pick, but something about it just grabbed me, (most likely the polka dots), and I love the way it looks in my home...

The cream and sugar set I have posted before, but I love the way they look paired with my other polka dotted items! 3.99 each at Winners! I heart them.

And my sand dollars... what are sand dollars if not polka dots spread along our sandy shores! I think God likes polka dots too! :D He did create them after all!

And finally my little white birds. I know they are not even closely related to a polka dot, but I just love them and wanted to include them anyways. I love little white bird ornaments, they are becoming a new obsession and I hope to find some more homes for them around my house!

I love putting bright colors with plain whites. I love contrasty things!

Anyways, these are what are on my table this week. I am just starting to rediscover my creativity and having things that are just for me, not Rupert :D And this has been one of them... however as not to disappoint... here are a few photos of lately with the precious boy.

{ah...... I need to get this kid's hair cut.... but I just can't seem to bring myself to do it! Look how precious it is! they way it flips up around his ears and straggles into his eyes! He won't look like my baby anymore... tear.}

{Move over Thomas, there is a new kid in town, his name is George. Seriously, Rupert has been all about Curious George lately (much to daddy's excitement!) We found him a George at a linen store of all places and he is in love! Also it has been smokin' hot here lately and so we had to get Rupert some "summer time" pjs which he is sporting the bottoms of in this photo.}

{precious moments... I saw my precious boy's hand resting on his daddy's shoulder as they watched some Curious George before bed time and I ran to get the camera... Thankfully that sweet little hand stayed there for quite some time so that I could snap some photos!}

Have a terrific Tuesday!!!!!!!!!!!

Totes my goats...

So this morning we got up and decided to head out to Coombs for a little outing. We seem to have gotten quite busy this past week and we needed to do something just the three of us. We picked up some coffee from The Buzz and were on our way. Rupe fell asleep just as we got there of course, so we decided to keep driving for a bit so he could last a bit longer at Coombs. Before we knew it we were at Cathedral Groves... who knew it was so close! It's only about 20 minutes away from Coombs!

{we've all had our photos taken in front of this monumental tree... now it's Rupert's turn!}

{Is it just me, or are they making the exact same face????}

{kisses for mommy... I got chin... I'll take what I can get :D }

{I love fenced in areas! Rupert loves to just go when we're outside, so it's nice to be able to let him without worrying about him getting into anything!}

{BWDyck represent! We love BC Parks!}

On to Coombs we go! I've decided I want a garden on my roof... and not just one made of moss!

The goats were hiding on me when I went to take their picture on the roof, but we were sneaky and went around back to find them grazing in their little pasture!

Those who have not been to Coombs for ice cream need to go! sooooooo many choices! Our choice today was rootbeer float, mmmmm so yummy!

On our way home we discovered the Wildlife Recovery Center and decided to stop in for a peak around. Rupert loves animals and there were many to see!

{Rupert looking through the observation window at the eagles.}

{A black bear named Knut... he looked so sad, I think Rupert thought he needed a hug as he kept reaching through the fence at him.}

{Baby eagle}

{Caught! Yes that's my, you are in trouble, face. Rupert kept touching everything and then putting his hand in his mouth! Little stinker! Usually I'm pretty lacks about what he puts in his mouth, but not with yucky animals! I decided to hold his hand for a while, didn't go over so well...}

{ugly but delicious... haha}

{Oh yah, here are our purchases from Coombs! Some beach maths, a wooden dump truck (obvs for Rupe) some fun summery napkins and two note pads: one for me and one for Colin! I love Coombs!}

Also... thought you should be introduced to my summer feet... I love my summer feet... Colin is not so fond of my summer feet... they are always fairly dirty, a little tanned, calloused from walking on the beach, usually some chipped polish and of course sporting fun flip flops... anyways I am happy to announce the triumphant return of my summer feet! Oh how I love them!

At the beginning of the day to make a trip all the way out to Coombs with our little guy seems like more hassle than it's worth... but at the end of the day I know that it just isn't true! We had a wonderful day together and I feel like it was just what we needed!

{lastly, we plan on making this trek again many times to come... next time maybe we will make it to my dear friend's house as she lives just past Coombs in a beeeeautiful home with her lovely family... check her out at http://madtimeswelivein.blogspot.com ...}

Birathers Day!

Our home has been full of celebrations this past week! It was Colin's birthday on the 17th and Father's Day today! Colin and I have known each other for 10 years this summer and it is amazing to have watched him grow into a husband, father and now pastor. We love him very much! And I say "we" because I love watching the absolute joy and love in Rupert's eyes when he looks at his daddy!

{birthday steak! of course! accompanied by corn on the cob and roast potatoes, yams, onion and zucchini. Colin is sporting his present from Rupe and I. A shirt from Eddie Bouer, his new favorite store, Colin's style is outdoorsy old man, which suits me just fine as I think I was meant to be an old man sometimes... Never mind that I could have bought him two shirts from the Gap for the price of this one shirt!}

{I kinda love these two!}

{I asked Colin what he wanted for his birthday dessert... strawberry rhubarb pie was the order and that is what he got, homemade even!}

We had a very lovely day... and as always it centered around great food and time just being together!

SWITCH... onto Father's Day! Before church this morning we presented the dad-man with his gift from Rupe... We got Colin a book called "Geek Dad" (Colin is very adamant that he has two separate gifts one for his birthday and one for Father's Day!) It is a book that is filled with activities for Geeky Fathers to do with their kids! AMAZING! After Church there was a soup lunch at our Church and then also a council meeting.... so needless to say when we got home we were tired!!!!!!! Rupert and daddy crashed on the couch.

{And yes your eyes are not deceiving you, Colin is wearing his Father's Day pin from last year that I said I would post a picture of on my blog but never did! He wore it proudly all day.}

{Such a tired boy! Did not even wake up for his bottle!}

After nap time and a delicious brinner, we got some ice cream and headed to the beach!

{Daddy eating ice cream, Rupert eating rocks.}

{Rupert making a play for daddy's ice cream.}

{Some baby goosen!}

{Rupert has the best daddy ever!}

These last photos have nothing to do with Colin's birthday or Father's Day but I had to post them as he is just so darn cute! Rupert's Grammie and Grampy gave him a huge stuffed Tiger for Christmas... and he liked him at first, but is now in love! He carries him around everywhere which is rather comical due to it's size! And every once in a while will lay down and rest his head. So precious!

I am so thankful for both my boys!

Happy Birathers Day Colin!!!!!!!!!!!! We love you!