Photo of the Day May 7th

Sophie and I had a "play date" at the London Regional Children's Museum this morning with our friends Matt (from preschool), his little brother Tyler and his mom Stephanie. The Children's Museum is a fantastic place for kids... there's just so much to do and see! We were particularly interested in the "Pack Your Bags" exhibit, which hit close to home since we've been talking so much lately about taking a family vacation on "the big white boat" in February... it was neat to look at (and play with) passport checking equipment, a hotel front desk, big rotating maps and more. The big hit with Sophie this trip was the Space exhibit, where you can "drive" a mock Mars Rover, climb aboard a Space Station, and even push buttons in Mission Control. This handsomely painted fellow watches over the Mars Rover, making sure you don't get lost I'm sure... 

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Photo of the Day May 6th

As part of my Stampin' Up business I teach crafting classes from my home - a great outlet and a wonderful opportunity to get together with other creative people and share what I love. I spent part of the morning creating samples for some of my upcoming classes, one of which is called "Wine-y Wednesdays". At this class attendees are invited over to my house to enjoy a glass of wine while we make two wine-themed projects - a set of two etched wine glasses (one of which is shown above) and a set of six wine charms. Interested in joining me? Throw me an email at summer.burton@sympatico.ca or leave a comment after this posting to let me know!

Photo of the Day May 5th

Another busy day... I suppose I should stop writing that, since every day seems to be a busy one! After returning home from a meeting and lunch at my friend and newsletter co-editor Julie's house, Sophie and I spent quite a while out in the yard watering the new grass and playing. After that a trip to the grocery store and bank, the health food store and the LCBO... then finally home to make dinner. Tonight we had a tomato, basil and mozzarella tart (shown above, just before I put it in the oven) with Caesar Salad for dinner - lots of fresh flavours and some wonderful spring-time colours too. My mouth is still singing from the flavour of the garlic in the salad dressing!

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Photo of the Day May 4th

One of my very favourite signs of spring are flowering magnolia trees... I'm completely entranced by them, their beauty, their colour, and even their short blooming time. They're like a special gift from nature that arrives every spring and reminds you to stop and really enjoy the beauty around you, because it doesn't always last. On our way to preschool this morning I noticed that the magnolia tree living about a block from our house is starting to fade... the tell-tale hints of brown are beginning to appear on the petals and a few have already fallen. I took a moment to take a picture, capturing their fleeting beauty before its gone again...

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Photo of the Day May 3rd

Mmmm... Sunday. And a beautiful Sunday to boot! It's been sunny and I've had all the doors open as I prepared tonight's dinner. We're having a traditional "Sunday Dinner", something that we don't do as often as I would like - it can be difficult with Chris's odd schedule, as many weeks he actually works on Sunday evening. But tonight we're all together, and will sit down over pork chops (and fish for me), corn on the cob, oven roasted rosemary potatoes, garlic-grilled asparagus and a home-made apple pie. Sophie's been my big helper in the kitchen today - she peeled all the apples for the pie, washed the potatoes, helped strip the rosemary from its stalk and blended up our marinades. Here, she's brushing the egg glaze on the top of the apple pie. I love my little helper, and we all love how the house smells when we bake an apple pie... sigh!

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Photo of the Day May 2nd

Daddy and Sophie share a smile after finishing their meal at Tecumseh.

Last night was Tecumseh Community School's second annual "Multicultural Friendship Dinner", catered by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women. We went last year and enjoyed the sense of community, meeting new people, and enjoying some yummy international food - this year was much the same. The meal itself featured dishes from Trinidad and Tobago, Pakistan and India, and the crowd was diverse. We chatted with our neighbours at the very long dinner table, and Sophie made herself a new little friend named Catarina... a lovely night all around. 

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Photo of the Day May 1st

It's been a fun, kid-filled day around our house... our friends Rhys and Rowan are here and chock full of energy, so we've been busy, busy, busy. Snapshot of 9am: fogging up the windows and drawing pictures in them. Snapshot of 10am: car races in the dining room. Snapshot of 11am: creative picture-making on the Light Bright. Snapshot of noon: racing coloured marbles down the front stairs (which can get quite competitive, actually). Snapshot of 1pm: stripping everyone of their dirty clothes out on the back porch. Snapshot of 2pm: finishing up lunch and getting ready for naps. Snapshot of 3pm: nap time (for 2 of the 3 anyway)... whew! Snapshot of 4pm: I hear stirring... which means I had better finish up this entry and get ready for more craziness! And since I can't possibly post all those snapshots, here are Sophie and Rhys sharing a laugh during our game of marbles. Those smiles make all the running around on these busy days worth it!

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