Are you ready for this one?

Wow, are you all in for a treat today!

This is going to be a very long post about many things. Hope you are ready!

First off is the biggest news of all: Anjali is going to school! This is extremely exciting for her! She has adjusted really well to the new school schedule and is excited every day to go to school. She has made some friends already, and usually comes home with enough stories to satisfy me. I enjoy hearing about all her adventures, and almost wish I could enjoy going to school again for the first time!

Here she is waiting for the bus.

She was so excited to get on the bus, the bus driver had to tell her to turn around so I could take her picture!

Next up, is one of my favourite things to eat in the fall or winter: borscht soup.

This particular recipe I tried was delicious, if a bit tedious.

Next, I would like to show you the guest bedroom. We haven't really done too much to this room yet besides clean up the junk and set up a homey little space for any guests to sleep for the night. It has already been used several times!

A dressing table I set up in the room. This was my old furniture and comforter from my growing up years.

Plain and simple does the trick!

Here is the "guest" washroom. Actually it is the kids' washroom. We didn't paint this room, but I like the colour. We installed the huge cabinet above the toilet. I love having the storage space.

Finally, the big reveal of the master closet.

First, Robin painted the closet with some leftover yellow paint that we had.

We bought an Ikea cubby unit (on the left) to put all sorts of folded clothes, and we can even add bins for hidden storage. There is plenty of space above for linens. Behind the cubby is an access point for one of the attics, which we won't really need to get to, but if we do, it'll be fairly easy to move the cubby out of the way.

To the right, we bought a tall, skinny storage unit for the middle, then Robin hung the clothes rails on either side and built the cubbies on top for additional storage.

Plenty of room on top for extra storage and bins.

Again, another look at the Ikea cubby. Well worth it.

And my newest pet project, the laundry room.

Here are some before pics.

Not too bad, but I was envisioning something more...

Progress:

I taped lines on the wall to create a striped look. Theresa came one morning to help me paint.

The lines did not come out as clean and crisp as I would have liked, but I am a bit of a perfectionist that way.

Robin looked at it and liked it. And the truth is that I like it too. You can't see the fuzziness in these pics at all.

Overall, I am happy with the end result.

We are going to be installing wall-to-wall cabinets on top of the washer and dryer, which is why we didn't paint the whole way around.

This was a great experiment. The laundry room was a great place to try out something new. And I think I will smile everytime I go in there now. :)

Snapshot of summer

So. I have been formulating some ideas in my head about this next blog post. So much for me keeping up with this blog. So, if anyone is actually still checking for posts, you will be glad to see this one, I am sure. These are just a few things that we have been able to do this summer:

Go to the cottage. We call it the cottage, but it is really a ski chalet located in Collingwood. It's the second year we have gone there and I really enjoyed it this year. I think it's because the kids are a bit older and I didn't need to entertain them.

This hammock was a highlight for the kids. Unfortunately it broke when Anjali and I were in it. Maybe I shouldn't be admitting that.... ;)

In the village at blue there are these water fountains which are so refreshing for the kids.

And exciting. You never know when it is going to pop out at you!

We spent quite a bit of time at the beach. This little beach was perfect for the kids. It was shallow for a long, long way out, which made it the perfect play spot. And us parents could relax a bit, knowing it wasn't too deep.

There is a gondola which will take you down the mountain (for free). It is a wonderful panorama of the village at Blue.

This is the new "roller coaster" at Blue. It is called the Ridge Runner. It does cost a bit, but the neat part is that you can control how fast you go down the hill. Unfortunately, I got stuck behind some people who went very slowly down the ride, so that was too bad, but I still enjoyed the experience. There I am at the top of the track.

Robin and Anjali went down too.

On our way there, and back, we saw the "Batmobile". Cool, huh?

Another thing we did, was camping. Here is the play barn in the Bronte Creek day area.

Marshmallows.... mmm.

Cheese - ies!

Now, on to other things. Last night Robin decided to rip everything out of our master closet. We bought some new shelving which will help get things more organized. It's amazing how the smallest things turn into big jobs, since now we are going to paint it before we put everything back in. Here is the "before". "After" pic to come some time in the future.

We have been doing many other projects around the house too. Mainly, the deck. Right now the joists are complete and all we need is the decking to go on. We are still trying to decide if we are going to use composite decking or pressure-treated.

Also, we have been working hard on the vegetable gardens. Robin built some raised beds, and we have been having some success with the garden.

Here is one monster zucchini we got. Unfortunately, the zucchini plants have now all died.

Enjoying some corn from the farmer's market where I've been working on Saturdays. I work for Berry Fresh Farms (the owners are from our church). I love all the fresh food that I get to take home every week, and have been flash freezing many of the berries that I take home. Unfortunately I have never made jam, but I just found a couple of easy recipes online yesterday, and I may just try them if I can get some canning supplies together!

We can't keep up with eating all the cherry tomatoes from our garden either. However, one of our favourite recipes is chickpea salad. I may just post the recipe if anyone is interested.

And here is a blackberry pie which Anjali and I made yesterday. I tried a new kind of dough mix, and it was terrible! I will never stray from Tenderflake lard ever again! But it was so tasty. Time for another piece, I think!

And that is all for now. Hope you enjoyed the post!

Here we go again...

Another post for all my faithful readers out there! :)

Sorry, I know this is quite late, but it will probably be all you get from me for the next little while. Explanation coming.....

First, here is a pic of my sweetie and one of her favourite drawings. This is a picture of a jellyfish being eaten by a sea turtle. She started drawing this after we took a visit to the science centre where we watched a film about creatures of the sea. It really was too scary for the little kids, but we are amazed at how much she actually absorbed of the film, and also from the exhibits at the science centre. At the time, we felt like the trip was a bit of a waste, thinking that we should wait till the kids are a bit older to go to a place like the science centre. However, we found that she had learned a lot when she would talk about certain things that we had seen and done there! Cool!

Here is a pic of our little buddy dancing in his carseat to one of his favourite songs by the Wiggles. I absolutely love having a DVD player in the van because when we are coming back from somewhere, and it is Brandon's nap time, all I need to do is turn on the DVD and it keeps him awake till we get home. Cool!

In other news, here is another "before" pic of our family room. Notice the curtains and how they don't reach the floor. This bugged me.

Now notice, new-to-me curtains which are the perfect height, in perfect condition, and for only $5 at a garage sale! Cool! Can't beat that!

Unfortunately my garage sale days are basically over for this season since I have begun working once again at the Brampton Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. This job is rewarding in many ways. I get to be out of the house for awhile without the kids. I get to see and talk with people. I get to take home fresh produce (mainly strawberries, mmm!) from the market. I will get to visit my parents every Saturday afternoon for lunch before heading home. But I will be beat when Saturday evening rolls around. And, I will miss hanging out with Robin and the kids on Saturdays.

That means I have to make the most of the rest of the week with my family. And it's summertime, people! So you might not catch me blogging too frequently in the near future. But I will try to keep up a little bit!

Jobs to do and my garden is blooming...

So obviously this post is coming a little late because Friday is long past.

But that is okay. My life is full and busy. And it's okay with me if this homework post is coming a little late.

This is a job that we took care of some time ago, but I will show you anyway. Robin constructed a platform so he could take down the ceiling fan (that we couldn't turn on since we can't reach it).

Here is the new fixture we put in. I don't have the complete "after" since the fixture has lamp shades on it too.
and here is the garden I'm talking about! :)
Anjali drew this picture. She loves to draw and is getting quite good at it.

We have been working on our real garden too. What a big job! Robin has built some raised beds and we are now growing peas, beans, watermelon, zucchini, tomatoes, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries!

We have some herbs and a couple of flowers in the back, but there is so much more work to be done! We are planning to build a deck, a shed, a swingset with slide and we have to finish the fence gates.

So much to do! It is overwhelming at times. Progress is slow. But the end result will be worth it, I hope!