Poppies, memories, family time

I always say that I need to write down/acknowledge/focus on three beautiful things each and every day. But do I? No. Definitely not every day. Somedays not even every other day. Sometimes I get bogged down in all the not so beautiful stuff, and I forget. And so today, I'm making sure to do it. Life is good in so many ways. I'm a lucky girl for so many reasons. Here's my 3BT on this bright Tuesday afternoon in June...

California poppies, picked by the roadside as the boys waited for the school bus this morning, in a little blue vase on my desk.

This beautiful spot where Em's memorial bench sits. We sat there together the last time I spent a weekend with her in Vancouver, before she moved to France. This weekend it will be dedicated to her, and we'll gather to have a picnic in her honour. Em loved picnics.

Hanging out in the front yard with the boys and Alan last night before bedtime. It's a beautiful yard, with good trees for climbing. I enjoyed being there, in the company of my little family, very much.

I hope you're enjoying at least three beautiful things today! And if you'd like to tell me what they are, I'd love to hear.

PS: I almost forgot to mention... there are just 7 days left of school until summer vacation!

Just a minute in June

Me in my classroom this morning

Hello there, lovely friends. It's pretty late on Tuesday night and I've got school in the morning, so will keep this quick. I haven't done one of these posts in forever, so thought it would be fun, and a quick way to bring you up to date on what's going on around here. Ready? Here we go!

These days...

I'm wearing capri pants, skirts, bright colours, pretty scarves, sandals...

I'm eating pretty healthy. Trying to get lots of fruit and veg each day. Bring on the watermelon!

I'm drinking tea, iced tea, water. It's been 3 months now since I gave up diet Coke. Haven't had a sip.

I'm thinking how fabulous it's going to be when our bathroom reno is done. Aaaah...

I'm listening to the brand new She & Him cd. Love those two!

I'm reading stacks of trashy novels {well, not really trashy, but definitely light... call it chick lit if you must}

I'm writing report cards. I swear I'm going to finish them before the weekend if it kills me!

I'm planning lots of fun, year-end stuff with my class. We're picnicking with my friend Shannon's class tomorrow, and earning points for a last day of school ice cream sundae party.

I'm loving how excited Sawyer's getting about his birthday party at the end of the month. Better get working on that cake and pinata now...

I'm amazed by just how good the boys have gotten at speaking French! Em would be so proud.

I'm looking forward to our summer holiday in Sorrento. We leave 6 weeks from Friday! Ooh, or is it 5?

I'm ready for bed. Good-night!

Sweet dreams...

E xo

June in the classroom

If you're a teacher, you know that June is exhausting. It's full of all sorts of fun activities, but it brings with it a whole new level of tired {Fun Day and Beach Day and field trips are fun, but you leave work at the end of the day ready for a good, long nap}. We're now a week into the final month of the school year and I am wiped out. But there are 15 school days left until summer vacation arrives, and in that time we have to keep the students busy, engaged and learning. Oh, and I need to finish assessing them and writing each of their two-page report cards, but let's not talk about that. Let's talk about the fun stuff.

I'm finishing off the year with an ocean/seashore theme, which will culminate with our whole school trip to Witty's Lagoon in the last week of school {check out the link... it's an amazing place}. We've been reading books, studying shells and driftwood and sand dollars, writing about our beach adventures, and doing some pretty awesome artwork. Take a look!

They are constantly picking these up, examing them, listening for the sea... I love it.

We traced our feet and then put them on the beach!

I love how these watercolours turned out

That's today... Off to the Ocean Discovery Centre in Sidney!

We read Mister Seahorse, and then made beautiful tissue paper collage seahorses of our own

Seashore books abound! Stella, Star of the Sea is my favourite.

The boys and I have been forced to do a lot of beach "research"... It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it!

How have you been spending the first week of June?

Much Love Monday

The boys and I went to the beach after dinner tonight. The weather was perfect. Hot sun, cool breeze, blue skies, and warm sand between one's toes all add up to the best way to spend a Monday evening in June. Needless to say, I loved it. Here are a few other things I'm loving tonight...

• Veep. That show's hilarious.
• Speaking of hilarious, Alan and I got tickets to see Dylan Moran's stand-up show at the end of the month. Super funny date night to kick off the summer holidays? Yes, please.
• I've made good headway on the dreaded report cards and it's only the 3rd of June. Go, me!
• I ripped out half a wall and the nasty old vanity in the bathroom, practically all by myself. It was awesome. It's going to feel so good to relax in the bath in that beautiful room, knowing that I helped make it that way.
• I've got yoga tomorrow night. I love yoga.
• Rice Krispie squares. Yum! I whipped up a double batch this weekend for the kindergarten orientation tomorrow and they're all ready to go. I may have eaten a few, but no one's going to notice, right?
• There are 18 days left of school. Eighteen! That includes Fun Day, Beach Day, a field trip to the splash park, and our year-end ice cream party. I love June in elementary school. 

Happy Monday, mes amies {what's left of it}.
Here's to a terrific Tuesday,

E xo

Saturday morning daydream

Have I mentioned we're in the middle of a major bathroom renovation project over here? That's right. Major. It's going to take a lot of vision to change that room from the current disaster it's in to the spa-like haven I'm imagining.

We've ripped out the floor and the drywall, taken a saw to the countertop, and smashed out all the tiles around the tub {Dylan loved that bit! He wore his shoes and swim goggles into the tub, and stood there pouding holes in the tile with a hammer}. We've pulled out all the nasty 45-year-old insulation, and filled the walls with nice new stuff. Next we need to pull out the hideous 1960s-era mustard yellow tub, toilet and sink. And then the process of drywalling, sanding, painting, flooring, plumbing and all the rest begins. In the end, I'm hoping our bathroom looks something like the beautiful one above. It will have a big white tub, a lovely pedestal sink, white wainscotting, and gorgeous flooring reminiscent of a beach house on Nantucket. I can't wait to soak in my tub with a summery novel, and enjoy every relaxing second.

This daydream won't come true without a lot of dedication and hard work, so I'd better get back to it. Wish us a speedy DIY project, won't you please?

Happy Saturday! And Happy First Day of June! Summer's so close, I can almost taste it.

image via Better Homes and Gardens

Before Sunrise

Before Sunrise was Em's favourite movie. She talked about it all the time, and she was thrilled when the sequel Before Sunset came out in 2004. Somehow, for some stupid reason I'll never know, we never managed to watch either of those films together. In fact, I never managed to see either of those films at all. My best friend's favourite movies. Didn't see them. How weird is that? Anyway, sometime last winter, there came the news that a third movie would be coming out this summer. Em was beside herself with excitement. We'd see it together when she was home in June. I just had to get myself caught up before then.

Em died in March. My heart is broken. She won't be coming home in June, and we won't be going to see Before Midnight together. Instead her family and friends will be dedicating a bench to her memory in Stanley Park, and we'll be spreading her ashes in Whonnock. Her ashes. I can't even wrap my head around that. I don't want to think about it yet. So, instead I'll think about those movies that Em loved so much...

Fast forward to last night. Sick with a cold, wrapped up in a blanket on the couch, I contemplated working on my report cards. And then I decided it was time for me to see Before Sunrise instead. I loved it, of course. It was Em's favourite, and I could tell why right away. It starts on a train from Budapest en route to Paris via Vienna. It's a romance. It has amazing European scenery. And it has Ethan Hawke in it {major heart-throb in 1995}. And it was really lovely. Even if it did totally make me cry afterwards. I need to watch the second movie this week, because next Friday night, June 7th, Before Midnight will be released. And I made Em a promise I'd be there to see it. I hope, somehow, she's beside me in that theatre.





Have you seen these movies? Do you love them as much as E & me?

Where did the weekend go?

I can't believe it's Sunday night already. The past few days have flown by. We have been up to our eyeballs in projects {new deck under construction, bathroom being gutted, year-end Grade One report cards in progress...}, but I managed to spend a good hour yesterday afternoon outside. Fresh air and pulling weeds is so good for the soul, isn't it? Inside, our house is a mess {drywall dust everywhere... ugh} but outside amongst the flowers, it's oh-so-beautiful. Take a peek and you'll see why I was so happy to escape into the garden this weekend.

Happy Monday, mes amies. Hope your week is a good one. 

love, Erin xo

PS: Have you signed up for my good friend Gracie's postcard swap yet? It's going to be fun.

Things I'm loving lately

Walking on the beach

Our gorgeous garden {and our soon-to-be finished sundeck}

The smell of freshly cut grass

Painted toenails

The letters from Em I keep coming across 

Planning for my class next year {I'm going back to kindergarten!}

Skype

Instagram 

Letters in my mailbox

Season finales {The Office was wonderful, wasn't it/}

Summer travel plans

Riding my bike 

Sitting on the front lawn in my new muskoka chair

Imagining how fab our new bathroom's going to look

Listening to my first graders read and seeing how far they've come

Playing board games with my boys

My floppy new sunhat and stripy flip-flops

Six weeks left until summer vacation!

What are you loving lately?

J'adore

... this super cool Princess Bride inspired t-shirt from ThinkGeek. I'm pretty sure I have to have it. And then I need to watch the movie again. It's been a while.

Happy weekend, peeps!

Scenes from the weekend

Words I would use to describe this weekend? Busy. Productive. Organized. Chaotic. Relaxing. Fun. Cuddly. Wet {looks like our early summer is no longer... hmph}. Oh, and chocolate. There was quite a lot of chocolate.

Sweet Mother's Day gifts and cards from my darling boys

A misty afternoon on the beach

King of the castle

Beautiful barefoot boy

Flowers and wise words on Sunday night

What are you up to this Monday morning? I'm looking forward to catching up with friends over the lunch hour, growing butterflies with my first graders, a big pot of veggie soup for supper, some letter-writing while the boys are at Beavers, and the return of Canadian astronaut Cmdr. Chris Hadfield to Earth {from the International Space Station back home in just three hours}.That man is seriously inspiring. After following his space journey, and singing along with 500 kids and him on Music Monday, I might even want to be an astronaut when I grow up :)

Happy Monday, mes amies.

E xo