lavender fields forever

The lavender and peonies are blooming. Mmmmm. This afternoon, on our way back from the beach, we drove by a couple of houses for sale that are intriguing. After seeing them in person, though, I love our house even more. And especially the garden! (Although you might not know it judging from the jungly status most of it is in right now. Ah, well - babies and toddlers trump everything else.)

Adam's new camera arrived today. This means that I get to spend more time with his old one. Yipee! You should check out some of the sessions he's done lately on his blog - there are some great shots. And I'm sure he'll be posting some new stuff as he uses his new one.
Speaking of Adam, he's the sweetest husband, ever. This was waiting for me in the shower this morning.
My new glasses also arrived today.

Happy Wednesday!

home notes

I still can't help buying soap from Olivier when I'm in NB. Adam thought that Thomas should do a little Vanna shot for you. Yes, he's sleeping. It's bath time - his favourite part of the day!
The new Nature Clean dishwasher detergent (the 'new and improved formula') is terrible. The old formula was fine, so when I saw this on sale, I bought two. I'm returning the second one, it's so bad. It just doesn't get things clean, leaves glasses cloudy, and I am just not a fan. Thought you might like to know.

I just ordered a new crib mattress for Thomas. The old one is a conventional sketchy one, and is is cracking. Which, frankly, scares me, since he spends so much time sleeping there. The one that is on its way isn't the most natural or the best of the best, but it's better than a cheapie one, and it's on sale this week. It has no phthalates or PVC, and has a removable waterproof cotton cover. It's made in Canada (of domestic and imported bits and pieces) and will make me feel much better. I'm excited.

I think we're done having kids, but in case you're not, they now have ovulation test kits with the pregnancy ones at Dollarama. Good luck!

Smartfood popcorn clusters are gross. Really gross - they were a sample that we got, and they are disgusting. Phillip won't even eat them.

PC Modena glaze is good. Really good. On vanilla ice cream, it's amazing. Mmmm.

Thomas is drooling up a storm over the past week or so. I hope there aren't teeth on the way already - I'm not looking forward to bites during feeding! And I am loving the Applecheeks diaper covers - they're lovely.

she sells seashells

Adam and Phillip brought this home from the beach for me. I think it's one of the most beautiful shells I've ever seen.

before and after

One of the projects that "we" (we hired someone to do the awful wallpaper scraping and painting while we were in NB) tackled lately was the stairway. The before pictures don't really capture how dingy and hideous it was before, and the after pictures don't capture how much brighter and lovelier it is. And I haven't finished everything yet (i.e. runner and hanging things on the stair walls) but you get the idea. I picked up that poppy painting for half price the other day, and looove it. Adam says "Klimt!" every time he goes by, since it reminds him of Gustav Klimt's paintings. Above is an after shot - notice the bare stairs?

The awful stripes before:


And the ugly runner.And after! (That's Thomas' downstairs diaper changing station in the corner.)
Yay!