DIY Stencilled Library Book Bag

9 / 3 / 1410 / 8 / 14

Even though Gracen isn’t officially starting school this year, the beginning of September means back into a regular routine, and hopefully back into borrowing library books on a regular basis {though it isn’t that easy here in Kuwait}. This little project – creating a stencilled library book bag – has been on our to do list for a long while and I’m so happy we finally got around to it… I think it turned out so well! It also means that whenever we go somewhere, Miss G wants to choose a few books to bring along, which in my mind, is never a bad thing!

Frozen Paint Wands

9 / 2 / 1410 / 8 / 14

While we’ve painted with frozen watercolour ice cubes many times, today we decided to try something a little bit different… Instead of freezing our usual concoction of water and food colouring, we simply froze children’s paint. And just for fun, we decided we’d create frozen paint wands instead of the usual cubes!

A Birthday Celebration at Play

8 / 29 / 149 / 5 / 14

Though we had an early doctor-themed birthday party with our families back in Canada a couple of weeks ago, I thought it would be nice to get a few of our Kuwait friends together for a real birthday celebration after a long summer apart. Since we’d already done the big party thing, I knew I wanted to keep this one small, super low-key, and easy to put together, which preferably meant not hosting it in our apartment {oh the disaster that can be created by a clan of little ones in a short amount of time!} While I did consider hosting it on the beach at the Hilton, it’s simply too hot to do that right now – even early in the morning. So when the opportunity to have it at Play {a fun indoor play space in the city} came up, we jumped on it! We love Play and visit regularly, so we already knew that we could expect a fun {and clean!} play space that all of our guests {aged 18 months to 6 years} would enjoy.

On Repeat: I Choose You

8 / 28 / 148 / 28 / 14

Gracen absolutely cannot get enough of this song lately. We’re talking on repeat, every single awake moment of every day if she could. She first heard it 10 days ago, and she’s pretty much got the lyrics nailed. {I don’t blame her though… I quite like it too.}

Harold and the Purple Crayon: A Dry Erase Activity

8 / 26 / 1410 / 8 / 14

Now that we’ve been back in Kuwait for almost a week and the worst of our jet lag seems to be over with, Miss G and I have been enjoying getting back into our regular routine. Our days have been filled with fun outings, play dates with friends, and fun activities at home – including our first instalment of our second round of our awesome little preschool book club with some of our online friends!

Gracen is FOUR: A Birthday Interview

8 / 25 / 148 / 29 / 14

Yesterday, our baby turned four. {FOUR – that’s truly a little hard to believe.} So, in keeping up with our tradition, we sat down together and did our little birthday interview. Now truth be told, this was our third attempt at the video, so it’s perhaps a little less spontaneous than normal, but I’ll take it. {Note to self for next time: remove at least some of the 10 000+ photos on your phone before attempting to take a 5 minute long video.}

The Best Banana Pecan Oatmeal

8 / 23 / 1410 / 8 / 14

It’s certainly not one of the prettiest breakfasts, but this banana pecan oatmeal is a definite favourite in our house. And for good reason! By recommendation of a friend, I started making this when Miss G was a newborn and I was a constantly starving nursing mama. It was quick and easy to throw together, it satisfied my raging hunger come morning, and was delicious too – sort of like dessert for breakfast. I’m pretty sure I ate it most mornings for months, and it’s no surprise that Miss G now loves it too.

Chocolate Almond Bliss Balls

8 / 15 / 1410 / 8 / 14

Oh my goodness… Miss G is absolutely obsessed with these chocolate almond bliss balls. Seriously. She begs for them like they’re candy and when you give her one? Her eyes light up like it’s Christmas morning. I love them too – they’re delicious, easy to make, and make for a great portable snack to throw in my purse or into our carry-on when travelling.

Easy Kid-Made Sugar Scrub

8 / 15 / 1410 / 8 / 14

Ever since attending their launch party for Fun, Miss G has absolutely loved visiting Lush, so there was no walking by when we spent a day on Robson Street a few weeks ago. The moment she got wind of the store’s signature scent, her eyes lit up and she was asking to go in {twist my rubber arm}. As always, the ladies working there were lovely and pampered us with all sorts of fun product demonstrations, our favourite of which was a luxurious lemony body scrub that left our hands feeling soft and smelling delicious.

Backyard Photo Scavenger Hunt

8 / 13 / 1410 / 8 / 14

Backyard Photo Scavenger Hunt | Mama Papa Bubba

I came up with this idea on a whim the other morning, and it turned out to be a ton of fun! Miss G and I were out playing in her playhouse when I realized how little time we had left to spend surrounded by brightly coloured flowers, big old trees, green grass, and a mountain-filled backdrop before heading back to the Middle East next week. It started with a quick iPhone pic of a particularly beautiful flower, and before I knew it, I had decided I’d create a backyard photo scavenger hunt comprised of all of the pretty little details around the yard.

Kuwait On the Map

8 / 13 / 1410 / 24 / 14

Added to the ‘Where are you from?’ map at Davison Orchards this morning…

{Apparently a summer tradition as the white pin was added by her last year.}

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Polka Dotted Blueberry Lemonade Popsicles

8 / 13 / 148 / 23 / 14

This silly little idea came to me the other day when I was looking at the huge box of fresh blueberries we had sitting on the kitchen counter. The Okanagan has been pretty warm recently, so turning some of our blueberry stash into popsicles seemed like a good thing to do. The thing is, I have a weird thing about blending fresh, local fruit. I just can’t do it. Especially not berries. Not even in the name of popsicles. {Living a berry-deprived life in Kuwait for several years has obviously gotten to me.} Since we love frozen blueberries as a snack, why couldn’t our beloved berries stay whole and become popsicles? There’s no reason they couldn’t! Add some organic, no-sugar-added lemonade, and you’ve got polka dotted blueberry lemonade popsicles! ☺

Simple Bed Sheet Tent

8 / 11 / 148 / 23 / 14

As a girl, I adored spending time in special little forts and hideaways, and now I love creating similar spaces for Miss G to cozy up in. Though we’re huge fans of our super simple backyard teepee, this summer we decided to try something new – a simple triangular tent created using only a few things from around the house.

After Dinner Exploring

7 / 25 / 148 / 23 / 14

On the way home from visiting family this afternoon, Miss G napped in the car from about 3:30 until almost 6:00 p.m. Definitely not the best move for a little lady who is normally in bed for the night by 6:30 p.m., but I was car sick and the lack of questions being fired in my direction provided some much appreciated quiet. So a late car nap it was – meh. Key to not having a little lady up until 10 p.m., however, was getting outside and getting some fresh air and physical activity after dinner. So that’s what we did… Went exploring! We fed the cows, visited the Aunties, and collected berries and flowers along the way. The plan turned out perfectly and we had a bathed bubba happily tucked in bed by 8:30. And some pretty pictures of our evening adventure. ☺

Flying High

7 / 25 / 148 / 23 / 14

This morning we headed out to Kamloops to visit some family we have there, as well as my Baba who is in town visiting. I took almost no pictures during our visit, but I did manage to capture this one of Brad and Grae playing in the backyard pool. There’s something special about being thrown high in the air by your Papa knowing that you’ll be caught safely on the way down, isn’t there? By the number of times Miss G exclaimed, ‘AGAIN! AGAIN!’, I’d say she agrees with me.