Woman in Real Life

It's day one of summer vacation and the inmates are already running the asylum! My peaceful routine is no more. Less than halfway through the day and pictures were already hanging crooked on the wall.

It's not enough to keep me from sharing my Insta-Friday look at the week using cell phone pictures, though.


Here is a picture of the inmates. I could simply let them watch TV all day. That would probably do the trick. But my guilty mother syndrome prevents me from doing that. So, I attempted to distract them this morning with a drawing activity.


When I posted about a fun drawing game that we played a while back, my cousin (from the blog Babylon Sisters) commented about another drawing game that she uses. She cuts images from magazines and has the grandkids add on to them. Simple and effective. I cut a number of images from a parenting magazine, put them face down on the table and had the kids pick one randomly.


They really enjoyed that activity...for about 20 minutes. Hey, 20 minutes is about the most you can expect from a kid, right?

We had plans to plant some flower seeds this afternoon, but it's now pouring rain.


Just before the end of the school year, I volunteered to go on my daughter's class trip to Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, Ontario's first European community. It was the headquarters for the French Jesuit Mission to the Huron Wendat Native peoples. The fenced community was originally built in 1639, and included barracks, a church, workshops, residences and a shelter for Native visitors. Things ended badly in 1649 when the community, under attack from the Iroquois, abandoned and burned the village.

We were fortunate to visit on National Aboriginal Day, when Canadians celebrate the contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples. The kids enjoyed seeing and hearing First Nations singers, drummers and dancers. They also got to make cool crafts, including a bracelet and a toy.

I shared a bus seat with my daughter (above, left) and her buddy. They were so excited about the trip, it warmed my heart.


My husband had a more flexible schedule this week, with students no longer in the school, so we went out for an all-you-can-eat sushi lunch sans kids one day. Love that sweet tofu sushi and the avocado green dragon rolls! Yum!

Have a fabulous weekend my friends. Happy Canada Day! And Happy Fourth of July to my friends in the U.S.!

How do you plan to celebrate?

Vote for Layla Grayce's Nursery Design for a Chance to Win a Mobile and a $100 Gift Card!

As part of Project Nursery’s Skip*Hop Nursery Design event, Layla Grayce joined actress Tiffani Thiessen, Joy Cho of Oh Joy! and Joni Lay of Lay Baby Lay in an exciting baby room design contest, where each participant was challenged to design a beautiful nursery on a budget. Vote for Layla Grayce as your favorite nursery design for a chance to win a Skip*Hop Springtime Birds Musical Crib Mobile and a $100 Layla Grayce gift card. Three lucky winners will win a mobile and a $100 shopping spree towards Layla Grayce! Hurry, this contest ends on July 10th. Vote here.


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