Cottage Love

It looks so peaceful and calm doesn't it?

Well, I'm sure it was...

before we got there. 

Holy geeze, we learned a lot about having little kids at a cottage this past week. 

We had a great time, yes we certainly did. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat. But man, we really weren't prepared. Since we went to the cottage with three kids under the age of 3, we knew we were in for a busy, loud, chaotic week. But we also just figured that we didn't have to worry about bringing much to entertain the kids since, well...the cottage would entertain them, wouldn't it? Wouldn't they just play outside or swim all day? That's what kids do at a cottage. 

So we brought a few toys, and figured that the rest would just work itself out. 

Well...it didn't, exactly. 

With cold weather, the lake wasn't exactly appealing to little bodies for too long. And playing outside worked for a while, but then playing with a few toys and some grass and sticks got old pretty quickly for a two year old and one year old. While leaving a 10 month old to crawl on cottage grass meant that a 10 month old is now trying to eat sticks, rocks and anything else that he could get his hands on. 

So we learned a lot. 

Our kids are still super super little and need more planned/organized activities..or they'll spiral downhill QUICKLY. 

Meltdowns? Oh yea. There were plenty. 

Oh, and the kids had some meltdowns too.  

But hey, we braved the cold water, even if it was only for a few minutes. 

     

And memories?  We still made plenty of great ones.

These little siblings cousins experienced things this past week that they'll never forget, which is really what it was all about.

Campfires and s'mores.

Ice cream by the water.

And moments with Nana and Papa that remind us all how lucky we really are to have parents who love our kids so very much--chaos, noise, meltdowns and all.

So when babies napped on their daddy's chests...

and hide and seek made us laugh with the great hiding places that were chosen

(because if I can't see you, then you can't see me...right?)

 

it made us realize that cottage life doesn't just have to be relaxing and calm in order to be wonderful. 

Through the noise and chaos, we learn that day trips were critical to keeping little ones entertained. So we took off to find new adventures...

and brought the kids to Santa's Village (an amusement park designed especially for little ones)

where airplane rides that went round and round were the biggest hit of the day

and climbing up the huge rope wall was pretty much the greatest moment of their lives.

So as we're home unpacking, unwinding and doing millions of loads of laundry, we're exhausted but fulfilled. It was a great week. An exhausting week. A busy week. A week at the cottage that we all won't ever forget.

Terry and I are already mapping out where we'll one day buy our own cottage so we can experience this wonderful chaos for years to come.

Thanks Arthrell family for sharing your amazing cottage with us--you've given the little ones in our family (and the big ones!) memories that we'll never forget.

Erica xo

Cottage Bound

We're in complete cottage-mode this week. My parents have rented a cottage for all of us and we're furiously packing, grocery shopping, packing...packing and more packing. Why do people who are so little need so much stuff?? Our entire van will pretty much be full of kid stuff, while a little duffle bag each will be allotted to Terry and I. But I love it--I love the stuff. Because it's cottage stuff, and as I pack away the hundredth pair of little shorts, t-shirts, blankets, sleep-time lovies, bathing suits and sunscreen I picture what each day ahead might look like.

Peeling your eyes open early in the morning to the sounds of babies crying and toddlers getting out of bed doesn't feel so bad, since...well...you're at the cottage. Everything is better when you're at the cottage. Bacon is on the stove. People who are still in their jammies start sauntering into the kitchen and the cool morning air just feels so so good as you step out onto the deck. Early mornings at the cottage are beautiful. I love walking down to the dock in the morning to watch the still of the water and hearing nothing but the sounds of birds around you.

These memories are, though, from before we had kids. So add in a few squealing kids and panicked moments of each of them falling into the water and I swear, it'll still be beautiful. Maybe not as calm. Maybe not as quiet (okay, definitely not as quiet). But still wonderful.

We've never had our own family cottage, but we've rented them throughout the years and been lucky enough to visit friends at their cottages. But somehow this time it feels different. All of a sudden I'm not excited for myself. I'm excited for my kids.

Mya has only been to a cottage once before when she was a baby, so she really doesn't even understand what she is about to experience, but she can't stop talking about it regardless. We've been telling her about what we'll do at the cottage and so every morning she asks if we can go, and every night she tells us that she's going to go swimming at the "cot--igg".

"Fire?" she'll say.

"Yes, don't worry..we'll make sure to have a campfire...and roast marshmallows and make s'mores and get dirty and go swimming, and eat lot's of treats and stay up late and make more memories than you can even fit into that little head of yours".

She smiles from ear to ear, and I realize in these very moments why parents work so hard to give their kids experiences in life.    

All of a sudden it isn't about just Terry and I anymore. And thank goodness--because honestly, these experiences (although more stressful in some ways and definitely more exhausting), mean so much more to me being able to watch my kids experience life in this way.

Before having kids, my main goal of spending a week at a cottage was to relax, sleep in, have a few drinks with friends and soak up the sun--which is what cottages are really all about.

But now? Well, my main goal is to make as many great memories as we can for our kids. I want to fill up their childhood memory bank with some great stuff--so I figure that time away at a cottage is a good starting point.

It'll be a week of  "Sure!".

You want to go swimming again? "Sure!"

You want to have another s'more? "Go for it".

You want to stay up late? "Sounds good to me!".

You want to eat three helpings of chocolate chip pancakes in the morning? "Here ya go!".

Sometimes it just feels good to throw away the normal routine and fall into vacation mode. And although the reality is that sleepless nights might still follow us, toddler meltdowns don't simply vanish since you're on vacation and long car rides with little ones aren't always a piece of cake, I'm still anticipating an incredible time.

This is what I found when I went into Mya's room to put her to bed last night.

"My baby's sleeping", she told me. "One more sleep 'til cot-igg".

I'm just as excited as she is.

**
If anyone has already lived and learned about what to bring (or really, what not to forget) when bringing little ones to a cottage please let me know. Or tips for long car trips??

Anyone? Anyone??

If you need me anytime soon, I'll be on the dock...chasing after little ones.

Erica xo




 

The Secret

I have been completely inspired. By one single book.

I haven't been able to put it down. My tiny book light is straining to power even a glimmer of light anymore since it's been on for such long periods of time late at night. My eyes are puffy and sore from forcing my eyelids to stay open for longer than they know they're supposed to. And I can still hear Terry's voice repeating the exact same words to me each night as we lay in bed, my fingers dog-earing the pages that move me, inspire me and make me want to come back to re-read it again.

"My love, it's time for bed...put it down".

"One more page", I say, as I quickly roll over to hide the glow of my book light. "Just one more page".

It's called The Secret by Rhonda Byrne--I'm sure you've probably heard of it before. Oprah did an entire show on it years ago and I heard people speak of it when it first came out...but I never picked up the book myself, until just now.

There haven't been many books that I've read that have really made a huge impact on me. But this one has.

It's a book about life. A book about one of the secrets of life. It's simple, really. The secret that they speak of is the Law Of Attraction. The entire book explains it in full (and much better than I could ever attempt to do here). But the idea is that whatever we think about we are essentially attracting to our lives. Our thoughts are so incredibly powerful--life changing, really.

"Everything that's coming into your life you are attracting into your life. And it's attracted to you by virtue of the images you're holding in your mind. It's what you're thinking. Whatever is going on in your mind you are attracting to you."

Powerful stuff.

It's like how on those days when your alarm clock doesn't go off, so you sleep in, and you wake up in a panic and stub your toe on the door...and everything spirals downhill from there. The book tells you to stop for a moment--change your thoughts to positive ones. Say thank you (out loud) a million times before you even leave your house in the morning (to get your thoughts focused on all of the wonderful things that you're grateful for already in your life), and things will turn around for you--you will start to attract good things to you for the rest of the day. Keep your mind on negative thoughts? You'll attract even more negative things to you.

"Man becomes what he thinks about".

"If you see it in your mind, you're going to hold it in your hand...If you can think about what you want in your mind, and make that your dominant thought {and believe that you already have it, FEEL that you already have it and believe that you already have it}, you will bring it into your life...Thoughts become things".

Your thoughts create your life.

Have you ever noticed that if you feel sick or have pain, that if you talk about it or think about it a lot it just keeps getting worse? Your thoughts are powerful. Whatever you focus on will become reality. Good or bad. Switch your thoughts to positive ones and amazing things will start to happen.

BE happy.  You will then become a magnet for even more happiness.

BE unhappy. You will then become a magnet for even more unhappiness.

"A person who sets his or her mind on the dark side of life, who lives over and over the misfortunes and disappointments of the past [will end up attracting even more] misfortunes and disappointments in the future. If you see nothing but ill luck in the future...you will surely get it".

I have written and deleted at least three paragraphs at this point, trying to explain it...trying to get it right. Trying to not miss something. But if it took an entire book to explain it completely, one little blog post certainly can't do it justice.

Reading it yourself is really the only way to understand it fully.

As I was reading this book I just GOT it. I understood it. I believed it. I always have believed it. My dad has always said that whatever you think or say to yourself will become reality. As I just wrote in my last post, he had told me before I even had a spouse to "Wake up every morning and tell yourself that you love your spouse and want to be with him--whatever you say and think will become reality".

We ultimately have the power to create our life to be whatever we want it to be. No one else can do it for us. No one else can make us happy. Your thoughts determine and control your life. So choose them wisely.

 Has anyone else ever read this book? What did you think?


Erica xo

35 Lessons From Mom and Dad

I wrote this list a few years ago--long before I even thought of having a blog or documenting our life in writing for my kids.

I had, though, the same intentions when I wrote this list as I have now as I write in this little blog: to write it down so that I don't forget.

If I were to write this list again, after having kids, I'd add a million more great lessons that they've taught me since Mya and Carter were born. But there are still SO many great things here that I will pass on to my own kids, remember for myself, and pass on to anyone willing to listen. They're all lessons that either mom and dad have taught me directly, or indirectly--some of the greatest lessons from parents come from simply watching them live.

So, here you go.

If it's in writing, I won't forget.

Pass it along if you can, share it, tweet it, 'like' it--because seriously, my hope is that at least one great little lesson might be passed along to someone who needs it.

Enjoy!

35 Lessons From Mom and Dad: 

1) Don't expect that since your children are full grown they don't need you anymore. If anything, they need you even more than ever as adults.

2) Being happy is a conscious decision that you make on a daily basis. Wake up and decide each day to be happy.

3) If we were all the same our world would be a very boring place.

4) Fill your house with laughter, don't fight in front of your children and say 'I love you' at least twice a day.

5) Some men cheat--but not all. Keep searching until you find a man who you can trust in ALL situations in life and never settle for anything less.

6) If your partner brings drama to your life and makes you cry a lot you are with the wrong person. Your partner should not bring drama to your life--he/she should be your safe place to fall. There will be so many other negative, dramatic, uncomfortable, hurtful situations brought into your life by the rest of the world--your relationship with your spouse should be loving and calm. Life is stressful enough--your spouse should not contribute any more to that.

7) As a parent, you (and you alone) have the ability to make your children's lives stable and secure, or chaotic and unstable. It is forever your responsibility for the entirety of their lives, to decide to do whatever it takes to make sure that their lives are stable and happy.

8) Two people cannot fight if one person refuses to.

9) Eat together as a family every night.

10) At Christmas, decorate your tree with the family while Christmas music is playing in the background and while drinking hot chocolate with mini marshmallows in it.

11) Always have a measuring tape on every floor of your house.

12) Keep band-aids in the junk drawer in your kitchen--when you need one you'll appreciate it.

13) Do as much around your house as you can to save money, but know your limits--hire someone for certain jobs.

14) Pick up your kids from school one day unexpectedly and take them to Mc Donald's for lunch. They'll never forget it.

15) If you sometimes don't have time to actually clean your house, just keep it tidy. It's the trick to making it appear clean.

16) Go for ice cream to celebrate after your kids recitals/performances/games--it'll make them feel special, regardless of whether they won or not.

17) Live a balanced life. Make sure that you maintain your health, body, mind, spirit and social life. If you're doing too much of one thing, the others will suffer.

18) Wake up every morning and tell yourself that you love your spouse and want to be with them--whatever you say and think will become reality.

19) When having guests over always keep an eye on their wine glasses and refill when necessary.

20) Save, save, save your money. But don't be afraid to spend it when appropriate.

21) Don't buy anything that you can't pay for in cash (except a house).

22) Love is showing up. You can tell someone that you love them all you want, but you need to be physically present in their lives on a daily basis and show up for all of the little moments and big moments for them to truly feel loved by you.

23) Take your kids to live theatre. It teaches them to appreciate different forms of entertainment instead of just watching TV, movies, etc.

24) Teach your children to say "sorry" by saying it yourself to them when needed.

25) When it's raining outside, put your kids in their bathing suits and dance in the rain together.

26) Have frosted beer glasses in your freezer at all times. Everyone loves a good cold beer.

27) Buy your kids random, unexpected (but cheap) things that they like throughout the year for no reason--it'll make their day.

28) Cut up your kids sandwiches into fun shapes and put little love notes in their lunchboxes for them.

29) Force your children to take swimming lessons--through all of the levels. Being a strong swimmer or not is NOT their choice to make--there are too many situations that they'll encounter in life where swimming is necessary and it can ultimately save their life one day.

30) When eating at a restaurant with your family, order water if you want to save money. You can save as much as an entire extra meal would cost by not buying a pop/juice etc for each family member.

31) Live below your means. You never want to be house poor.

32) Don't put white carpet in your house. It will look beautiful, but you'll spend a fortune on AAA cleaning bills (true story).

33) If you have more than one child, make a point of making sure that you do everything as equal as possible for them. Children (even adult children) need to feel like they are loved equally...down to the last penny or dime or time spent on/with them.

34) People don't change unless they really want to. Instead, change the way that you react to them and change your expectations of them so that you're not constantly disappointed, frustrated or angry.

35) Surround yourself with successful people and you will become successful too.  

Thanks mom and dad...the list could go on and on, but my bed is calling me.

Love you mom and dad.

Erica xox

DIY storage baskets

Who knew that so many people would be interested in making their own bench cushion?? I certainly didn't.

I noticed all of a sudden that there was a lot more traffic on this little blog here 'o mine, then noticed that they were all coming on over from Pinterest, re-pinning my post about my new colour-crazy bench cushion, and coming to check out what's going on over here. So welcome to anyone who hasn't been here before (and thank you those who regularly check in!). Hope you're inspired to throw some bold colours down around your house and try something that you don't think that you can do. Just go for it. Seriously.

My multiple heart attacks over how bold this bench is have started to dwindle and I'm starting to love the bold colours and bold patterns that I chose. It just makes me happy staring at that thing in my hallway every day.

But on another note...as promised, here is how I transformed those storage baskets from this...

to this.

I had no idea how hard it would be to find white baskets that were the right size and height for this bench. And after searching every store that I could possibly think of, I came up with nothing. That's where Super Dad comes swooping in once again and saves the day. You tell my dad anything that you're frustrated about, searching for, can't find etc etc and he'll find it. Then he'll bring it to you--within literally hours of you complaining about it. Thanks again dad!

He showed up with several different options of baskets for me that would fit the bench, but they unfortunately didn't go very well with the colours of the bench itself. So my crafty mind starting spinning, and I quickly decided that I could make them look great with very little work and for very little money.

A little spray paint, a trip to the fabric store for some dark brown fabric and ribbon and of course my beloved glue gun = new baskets. DIY style.

Here is how I transformed them:

1) Remove the original fabric from the baskets, get outside on a nice day and get your spray paint out.

This is the spray paint that I used, since it was left over from our DIY dresser in Carter's room, but I'm sure any spray paint would do.

2) Start spraying until the entire basket is coated. I started on the corners and worked my way out. Let dry completely, then add on as many other coats as you need until it looks as you'd like it to.

The pic below shows the one on the right untouched, and the one on the left painted.

I didn't bother adding paint to the tops or inside the baskets because I knew that they would be covered with fabric.

This is what they looked like after 3 coats of paint and the original fabric put back on.

3) I measured the tops of the baskets to figure out how much fabric I'd need to cut (to only cover the tops of each basket). Then I cut out my three strips.

 4) I then got my glue gun out, flipped the edges up and put a strip of glue along the flipped-up edge, then glued the brown fabric down, so it would be tucked underneath.

5) Once all of the edges are glued under it should look like this.

6) Fold the top edges over the basket and glue down (inside the basket).

7) The edges inside will look unfinished, so a quick fix for that is to simply glue fabric ribbon over top so that you have a clean finish.

Voila!! Transformed to match my bench--and really easy to do.

If you end up transforming your own baskets let me know (and show pics!)--I love to see what others are doing and get inspired.

Happy Monday!