Insta-Friday #27

Hey! It's another Insta-Friday!

We started last weekend by taking a trip to Emerald Lake, Saskatchewan. 

As soon as we got there, we set up camp & went for a walk down to the lake just in time to catch the sunset.

The beauty of going to "the" lake - almost any lake in Saskatchewan, I dare say is the character of the cabins surrounding it. There were a lot of old school touches & plastic patio lanterns. These mossy steps let up to one such cabin. I love it!

Well, we may be roughing it, but we can at least do it in style, right? 

A plastic tablecloth in a fun pattern - from the grocery store, no less - & a little bouquet of wild flowers in a makeshift water bottle vase added a little touch of class to our tenting site.

Audrey asked if she could go for a little walk nearby our site & she came back with the flowers. 

How sweet!

Our Saturday was a little on the cool side, but warm enough that the kids wanted to go swimming for a bit in the lake & they spent a LOT of time at the playground. Vast quantities of bacon & s'mores we're consumed over that 2 day period.

We were about 5 minutes from arriving at the lake & I realized that I had forgotten to pack Audrey's bathing suit - Aaaaah!

She was a great sport & just wore her leggings & a t-shirt in the water with no complaints.

Okay, Saturday night. This is where the weekend takes a turn for the worse. As I wrote on Instagram...

"So our camping trip didn't exactly end the way we wanted it to: last night there was a very loud storm that kept us up almost all night. I got *maybe* 2 hours of sleep. No one was sleeping & we didn't feel like spending the day in the rain, so as soon as it was light enough - 5:00 a.m. - we packed up camp & hightailed it home. James was starting to nod off, so we stopped at this cute vintage diner so I could take over the driving. Sadly the diner wasn't open yet = no coffee. But hey, I got this photo. Half an hour later, a round of coffee (juice for the kids) & muffins were had & I managed to stay awake enough to get us home. The car is unpacked, I'm showered & no longer feel like a greasy, stinky hippy, the first load of laundry is in & I'm going to bed! The end."

When we go camping, I insist that there be a place for me to take a shower. I must shower everyday. On Saturday morning, James made a remark about me not being able to make it for one day without a shower, so of course I felt like I had to prove him wrong. I did it, but I felt downright nasty by nightfall. 

Hence the shower comment above. I no longer feel the need to prove that I can do it. Being clean is much better.

I've got to go back to that diner when they're open - it looked so cool. They even had an antique shop! 

After recovering from our less-than-perfect-but-okay weekend, we got back into the routine of summer, which for me & the kids meant another week of swimming lessons & having fun outside.

This scrunchy little nose gets me every time!

We got our first real harvest of the summer from the garden this week. Lots of fresh lettuce & peas with a few carrots & cherry tomatoes thrown in.

Spending 10 mornings at the pool made me realize that I really, REALLY like blue skies & water. It can be a pool, a lake, the ocean. It refreshes me without even having to go in.

It reminds me of Psalm 23: He leads me beside the still waters...

I can really relate to that. That King David sure knew what he was talking about.

I got a bit of creative time in this week by whittling away at a card order. 

My latest thrift store makeover: the yellow chalkboard now has a place of honour with some of my milk glass in the front entryway.

Almost done with this round of swimming lessons. The other day, Parker's class started learning how to dive. It was mostly a lesson in trying not to belly flop. Funny stuff.

I'm still on my road to getting healthy - I've had a pretty good week except for the camping eats on the weekend that were less than ideal health food. I've managed to work out 3 times this week & I am making better food choices. This was lunch on Thursday.

This photo is actually from the weekend at the lake, but I just posted it yesterday. 

Beauty really is in the little things. There are little pockets of it everywhere. 

You just have to keep your eyes open.

Keep your eyes open for the beauty around you today.

Here's to another great week! 

Thanks for reading. If you like what you see here on Silver Boxes, I'd love it if you would become a follower on Google Friend Connect, subscribe by email (sign up on the right sidebar), 

or follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or Twitter. 

And please leave a comment when you do so I know who my new friends are! :)

Enjoy your day!

Check out the great parties I link up to!

Insta-Friday #26

Wow, it's Friday already! And first off, I have a question for you all: 

I just made up our next week's menu plan & was wondering... Is menu planning something that you do? If not, would it be something you would like some help with? Would you enjoy seeing a weekly menu plan on the blog with links to recipes?? I'm interested in your thoughts!

And now... welcome to another Insta-Friday! 

I filled you in on last weekend's festivities earlier this week & you can check out that post HERE.

Oh, and before we begin, you will see that I'm in serious like with the Rhonna Designs App. 

If you are an Instagramer, GO. BUY. IT. 

I think I like it because, for me, it's like creating a little scrapbook layout for every photo you use. 

After the big birthday barbecue on Saturday, Sunday was a quieter day. After church & my weekly Sunday afternoon nap, I got in some much needed creative time. Working on a card order was like therapy. Loveliness!

Monday morning brought us the first morning of a two week session of summer swimming lessons for the kids. I love the turquoise of the pool. It's such a refreshing sight every morning.

On Tuesday morning we had another beautiful morning at the pool...

After the kid's swim, we headed over to the gorgeously treed park across from the street from the pool. This is what a park should look like. The people who live near this park are so blessed to have such a lovely view! 

This park had an old school playground, complete with an old metal slide. 

Do you remember wearing shorts on these old slides when it was hot outside? Burnt legs!

"Awesomer" has long been a favourite word of mine & I use it often. So when I saw that Rhonna had used it in her app, it sure made me smile!

A big highlight of my day on Tuesday was the grand opening of our first two Target stores in Saskatoon! I have to say that I was really impressed! It was almost everything I had hoped for. 

Note to Target Canada: We need a scrapbook/craft isle! (I just took a moment to comment on their Facebook page before I forgot.) ;) The prices are a bit higher than Target U.S.A., but I expected that, since Canadian prices are always higher. I'm seriously looking forward to stalking the clearance sections in a few weeks. I'll be a regular, for sure!!!

My first trip to Target resulted in one purchase: a new shower curtain! And a chevron/hexagon shower curtain to boot. The greens match our green bathroom walls so perfectly! I had wanted to paint the bathroom for awhile now, but this shower curtain has breathed new life into this room & I love it again!

This week, I've really been working on getting exercise into each day. For too long I've been letting the days go by & thinking that things would magically come together "tomorrow". 

It was always tomorrow.

I'm getting real with myself & making physical activity a priority in my schedule. 

"If not now, When?" is my motto for this summer. 

I've even included it each day in my daily iPhone to-do list. 

I'm not letting the days slip by anymore before I make something of them!

Enjoying the Psalms...

On Thursday afternoon, we were planning to go to the pool with friends, but it was pouring rain. 

Plan B: Despicable Me 2 with friends. It was so cute & we all really enjoyed it. 

The songs at the end were my favourite. Laugh out loud funny!

When we got home from the movie, the sun had come out & it was hot & muggy.

We dug out some balloons from birthday parties gone by & made some water balloons! 

The kids got wet & I managed to stay out of the line of fire long enough to get some photos.

It's been a great summer week for us. I hope it has been for you too!

Thanks for reading. If you like what you see here on Silver Boxes, I'd love it if you would become a follower on Google Friend Connect, subscribe by email (sign up on the right sidebar), 

or follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or Twitter. 

And please leave a comment when you do so I know who my new friends are! :)

Enjoy your day!

Check out the great parties I link up to!

Insta-Friday #23, #24, #25

Another week of telling you the stories behind my Instagram photos! Three week's worth, this time! You may want to grab a coffee... ;)

Once our peonies started blooming it rained for days which means we didn't get a whole lot of time to enjoy them. In between the rain showers, I managed to get this shot.

After all the rain, the plants (and the weeds!) were growing profusely! And weeding was a super muddy job!

Insta-Friday #22

It's time for Insta-Friday - the time of the week when you hear the stories behind this week's Instagram photos. 

Last Friday was the first day of summer holidays for the kids. Exciting stuff, right? Yes! We had plans to start our 3rd annual park tour & go for frozen yogurt on the beautiful, sunny day... Ya, that would have been great except that... it rained all day. Blah. 

Plan B: Watch an old Disney movie with hot chocolate (in Disney mugs) & giant marshmallows. 

So, that's what happened instead.

Sunday: Father's Day. We spent the day celebrating the dad's in our lives. And I finally got a photo taken with my dad (it's been years)!

One of our kid's favourite things to do with wrestle & tickle with Daddy. Silliness abounds.

Insta-Friday #21

School's out for the summer!!

Woot, woot! We're all really excited around here. 

We have all kinds of fun plans, most of them to take place around here since we're not venturing away from home for very long this summer.

Today was supposed to kick off our 3rd annual park tour (simple idea, but really fun: visiting a different park every week, preferably one that we've never played at before), but it's pouring rain here so that plan will have to wait until the gloomy weather clears up. 

Instead, we'll do some reading, play some games, & maybe bake some cookies.

~~~~~

On to the look at our week via Instagram...

Last Friday consisted of a lot of shopping - groceries, plus a whole bunch of gifts for birthdays, teachers, & Father's Day.

Here's where I ended up for the Father's Day gifts...

I'd never been in by myself. I was a little overwhelmed, but I think I picked out some great gifts.

On Friday night we went out for supper with some good friends. The very fun, laughter-filled evening was topped off by peanut butter pie (which was amazing!).

Insta-Friday #18, #19, & #20 (The late edition!)

Welcome to Insta-Friday... the late edition! 

It's been a few weeks since I've done one of these posts, so I have alot of photos to share.

Let's dive in!

Spring has brought such amazing weather here & I've been going on lots of walks to take advantage of it.

Insta-Friday #17

Welcome to Insta-Friday #17 - My week in pictures!

Last Friday, I had an errand to do downtown. I plugged my meter with an hour's worth of time & then finished my errand in about 10 minutes. So, I took the rest of the hour, & walked around downtown by the river, enjoying the wonderful weather & our beautiful city.

Saturday morning, I was up bright & early to go out to a town wide garage sale. This house had a ton of homemade baking for sale as well as fresh (she pulled them out of the frier while we watched), homemade donuts! My friend, Vanessa, & I couldn't resist trying them!

Insta-Friday #16

Welcome to my week in photos!

I think I say this every week, but it's been an exciting, fun week. You know, keeping track of my life on Instagram makes me really appreciate the small things in life. Even the seemingly meaningless errands & chores take on a new meaning when you can see a bit of beauty in them.

Last friday was spent doing doing some thrifting & errands with my friend, Sarah. I was on the hunt for some fabric to sew a window valance for my son's bedroom makeover. We discovered a fabulous quilting shop & I found the perfect fabric!

While we were out thrifting, we each found a large treasure! I found the blue trunk & she the great chair. We think a hotel was redecorating & got rid of a bunch of these chairs. It was in fabulous condition!

We also enjoyed seeing the cheery flowers at the Home Depot even though it's still a bit early here to be planting. Give it another week or two & we'll be good to go!

On Saturday, my husband, daughter, & I went garage saling for a bit. This pink elephant sadly was not for sale. :(

Insta-Friday #15

Welcome to my week in pictures. My opportunity to share with you some of the more behind the scenes moments of my life...

Last weekend started with some beautifully warm weather, so I gathered all the spray painting projects on my to-do list & started exersizing my trigger finger!

You'll see them all in a few days. Stay tuned!

My current Saturday morning routine includes going to swimming lessons with my little fishies. 

They're doing great!

Insta-Friday #14

Welcome to another Insta-Friday! 

Spring has finally decided to grace Saskatchewan with her presence & I must say, 

I for one, am loving it!

I had almost forgotten what warm sunshine felt like...

Last Friday evening, I went to a local handmade market with a friend of mine. These custom made dolls tickled my fancy.

The old man dolls & the bears with glasses were my favourites.

How can you not smile when you look at them?

Insta-Friday #13 {Even Though It's Saturday}

We started off last weekend with... you guessed it... Snow.

My friend & I started our #nosockrebellion just to stick it to the snow. 

We must have hurt the snow's feelings because it's now quickly retreating.

Finally.

Have I told you that I'm in love with washi tape? It's true! It can be used for so many things. One of my favourite being a great way to dress up a plain brown paper package. And topped with a little felt pinwheel... the ultimate cute factor.

Insta Friday #10, #11, & #12

***WARNING: This is a very photo-heavy post. Proceed at your own risk.***

In the business of the last few weeks, blogging has mostly fallen by the way side for me. 

I'm looking froward to getting back to a more regular schedule. I've been working on some recipes & projects this week so I'll have some brand new stuff to share with you next week!

Because blogging has taken a back seat, my weekly update - Insta Friday - has also not taken place, although I'm still posting on Instagram when inspiration hits.

Let the epic update begin...

Week 10:

My husband, James, & I started the weekend off with a bang - date night at our fav Mexican joint here in Toon Town, La Bamba. I drank an apple pop in honour of our last trip to Mexico when I was introduced to apple pop. It's yummy!

After supper, we perused a favourite home decor store - Urban Barn.