Tuesday, 24 February 2015

It's The Little Things

I have loved this winter but I am starting to day dream about Spring.  To keep myself in positive spirits, I just focus on the things that make me happy.  Here are some of the little things that are bringing me joy right now.

When Luke is napping around lunch time, I love to eat lunch and watch 90210 The New Class. 

Kissing chubby Luke cheeks all day long. 

Snow.

Time on my yoga mat for prayer and movement. 

When I go grocery shopping alone at night, I like to stop at Tim Hortons first and grab a tea to sip on while shopping. 

When I am done grocery shopping, I like to sit in my car for a few minutes while it warms up and check my social media accounts.

Hot Chocolate with a ton of marshmallows on top.

Chocolate.

Listening to my husband make my son laugh.

Being called Mrs. Lapier.

Watching the wonderment in Luke's eyes when he discovers something new.

Donuts. 

How happy Luke is when he wakes up in the morning.

Eight hours of sleep.

Emails, texts and phone calls from good friends and family.

A clean kitchen at the end of the night.

What makes you happy?

P.S. This post totally reminds me of the song from The Sound Of Music, These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things. 

Thursday, 19 February 2015

Skin Care Essentials

As some of you may know, I used to work at Caryl Baker Visage in Sarnia.  I have roughly seven years experience working in the skin care and makeup industry.  One of the most important lessons I learned while working in the beauty industry, is that while makeup is amazing for enhancing your beauty, taking care of your skin is the first step to looking great.

Luke has been sick and teething the last few days so he has been waking up through the night (which is unlike him) and we have been doing lots of snuggling during the day.  I haven't taken much time for myself in these last few days so while Luke napped yesterday, I enjoyed a long shower and a facial scrub.  Exfoliating my skin totally refreshed my tired complexion and made me feel much more awake.

I have had people ask what products I use and what my beauty routine is so here are my basics.  Eye creams, serums and masks are great too but this routine will get your skin on the right track and for me, keep me feeling great.  As we start our family, I am more conscious of my spending so I have detailed the high and low end products that I have used and love.


High End 

Eye Makeup Remover - CBV Oily Eye Pads
Face Wash - CBV Botanical Gel Cleanser
Moisturizer - CBV Vitamin Enriched Defence Cream
Scrub - CBV Papaya Scrub

Low End 

Eye Makeup Remover - Equate Cleansing Cloths
Face Wash - Aveeno Positively Radiant
Moisturizer - Ponds Dry Skin Cream
Scrub - E-mergin C Micro Scrub (CBV)

Routine

I remove my eye makeup first.  You can use your face wash but in my experience it is more work to get your eye makeup off that way.

Next I clean my skin with my face wash, towel dry and apply my moisturizer.

I exfoliate my skin with a scrub once a week, this step takes place after my face wash and before moisturizer.  Exfoliating allows moisturizer to absorb deeper into the skin and refines pores.

In the morning I just rinse my skin with water and apply my moisturizer.

Lastly, I know you have heard this a million times but drink lots of water.  Hydrated skin will age more gracefully.

My scrub is something that I always splurge on, if you find a piece of skin care or makeup that really works for you, just stick with it.

If you have any questions about skin care please feel free to comment below, connect on FacebookTwitter or Instagram

Sunday, 15 February 2015

I Am Second - Love

Volume 2

I have a Bible app that presents me with a daily verse and a lot of the most recent verses have focused   on love. 

This one really stuck out to me - 1 John 4:7 "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knows God."

Everyone who loves knows God.  Everyone who loves knows God!  Yes, I repeated myself to really help that sink in.  You don't need to go to church, you don't need to pray and maybe you have never read the Bible but if you have loved, you know God.

I think this is pretty cool because love is one of our most natural emotions, especially when you have a child.  Having Luke took love to a whole new level for me.  Not only is the love I feel for Luke unlike anything I have felt before but the love I feel for Tyler has also changed in an awesome way.

When I had Luke I did start to have a better understanding of the love God has for me.  I have always believed that God loves you and I unconditionally and that He will never love us more than He does today or less than He does today, no matter what we do.  It was not until having Luke that I could really begin to understand the magnitude of this kind of love.  When I consider this, it makes sense to me that anyone who loves, knows God.

In my personal experience I have also discovered that the times when I choose love over anger, frustration or resentment, I feel more peaceful, which I think allows me to grow closer to God.  I fail horribly at this often but with Gods assistance, I am choosing love more easily everyday.

When I love others the way God loves me, I will get to know Him better and you may know Him through love and not even realize it.

I am wishing you love, the acceptance of God's divine love and the peace that comes from unconditionally loving others. 

xoxo
Love Audrey 

Friday, 13 February 2015

DIY - Valentines Day Photo Booth





Since becoming a mom, I am so much more into the holidays, even silly holidays like Valentines Day.  I wanted to capture some love in a little Lukey photo shoot, here is how I put it all together and some of the end results.  I think I got some cute shots and we had a blast creating this little love scene, Luke is a natural!

What You Need

Valentine coloured construction paper

Yarn

Glue gun and glue

Scissors

Sticky tack

Props, pillows and blankets of your choice

A lamp without the shade

A large piece of bristol board

Tin foil

A camera or camera phone (I used my iPhone 5C)

A blank wall





Method 

Cut hearts in your construction paper, all different shapes and sizes.  I folded my paper in half because thats the easiest way to create symmetrical hearts.

Create a line of glue with your hot glue gun, at the top of the heart on one side, then place your yarn on the hot glue.  Be careful, I have had a few run ins with the hot glue gun.

Continue to glue your hearts to the yarn in no particular order, randomly overlapping the hearts as you go.  You are welcome to create a pattern but I like the whimsy that is created when there is no pattern.

Once your heart garlands are the desired length, hang them by placing sticky tack on the back of the hearts on each end, pressing the ends to the wall and allowing them to swoop in the middle.  Start with the bottom garland and then place the other two above and slightly out to either side.  When you have the garlands where you want them, secure them to the wall with a little more sticky tack on the back of a few hearts throughout each strand.

Place your props where you think you would like them and snap a couple pictures to make sure everything fits in your frame well.

To create your photo lamp, fold your bristol board in half and stand it up lengthwise.  Drape tin foil over the inside of your standing "card" ensuring the shiniest side is facing out.

Remove the shade from your lamp and set the lamp and bristol board up so the tin foil is reflecting the light into your photo booth.

When your ready to do your shoot, place your lamp a few feet from your subject and then have fun trying different poses, angles and trying to get your little cutie to crack a smile.






Happy Valentines Day!

xoxo


Wednesday, 11 February 2015

Thinking About Lent

As I made my first coffee this morning I thought, "Fat Tyesday must be coming up soon and that means Lent as well, what should I give up?"  I also thought, "I can't wait to eat pancakes for dinner on Fat Tuesday."

As the Keurig finished brewing my coffee, God spoke to me, "Heather, you should give up caffeine."  

The internal dialogue continued, "But God, coffee makes me a better mother, more ambitious and excited."  God replied, "Heather, if you are relying on coffee to get you through the day, it would be good for you to take a break from it."  I left the coffee maker thinking, "Ok God, I will think about it." 

I went on with my day and proceeded to drink two more coffees.  While having lunch with friends, I overreacted to something someone said and left the lunch feeling embarrassed.  I blame my overreaction on my caffeine high and as I got in my car I thought, "Ok God, you are right, this coffee thing is getting out of hand and I need a break." 

So, I plan on giving up my beloved coffee for lent beginning on Wednesday Feb 18, a week from today.  Wish me luck friends.  I am sure God has a plan for this journey and there will definitely be some extra praying going on around here.

Do you have any plans for Fat Tuesday and Lent?  I would love to hear them here, on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram

Monday, 9 February 2015

Cabbage Soup





Soup is my cure for cold dark February days.  Here is the recipe for the cabbage soup I whipped up this afternoon.  I love to serve soup with bread and butter for dipping.

Ingredients 
1/2 litre of table cream
1carton of chicken stock
1 head of cabbage
1 small kielbasa log
1 carton of cherry tomatoes
4 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp thyme

Method 
Rinse and chop cabbage.
Rinse and chop tomatoes in half.
Chop kielbasa into bite size chunks.
Add butter, cabbage, tomatoes, kielbasa, garlic powder, onion powder and thyme to the pot and sauté for 5 minutes.
Add chicken stock, cream and bay leaves to the pot and simmer covered for 45 minutes or until cabbage is tender.
Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

Makes 8 - 6 servings

Stay warm my friends!

Thursday, 5 February 2015

Luke - 5 Months

Parenthood gets more enjoyable as the days go on.  Yesterday Luke turned 5 months old and the newborn that use to sleep all day, still sleeps really great but is much more active when he is awake. 



Luke, some of your current hobbies are: 

Blowing bubbles with your tongue sticking out.  You do this so often I fear this is how you think we humans communicate.

Flapping your arms like a bird. 

Chewing on anything you can bring to your mouth, including your hands. 

Drooling, you still don't have any teeth but you definitely have the drool. 

Rolling over, you did this for the first time on Feb 3, one day before your 5 month birthday.  It was pretty awesome to watch you hit this milestone.  Now your a rolling machine. 

I think we are lucky to have cousin Blaine two months ahead of you to show us what is coming up next.  From what I can tell, things are going to keep getting busier and busier but that just means more fun!



Your dad and I love you to the moon and back!


Monday, 2 February 2015

Gratitude Monday

Weekends are the best!  Last week on Thursday night, I told Ty, "we need some family time just the three of us".  The past few weekends Tyler and I have been having fun with our individual activities but we have totally been tag teaming with Luke.  I am so glad we both have our own interests but it doesn't give us that focused family time that is also very important.  Saturday was all about our little family.




We went grocery shopping together which I love because Tyler stops me from buying the same things and he always puts more treats in the cart than I do.   

After shopping we went to lunch at Bains BBQ and it was so delicious.  We will definitely be going back, our meals were great and as other customers food came out, I thought "I want to try that and that and that too", so we have to go back. 

For dinner we had breakfast, pancakes and sausage, breakfast for dinner is so fun, it makes me feel like a kid.  After Luke was down for the night, me and Ty had a skate date in the back yard.



On Sunday Marley, my mom and I went to church.  Marley has been coming with me because she really likes Sunday school and then I have been bringing her back to my house for the afternoon.  I love having her at my house and so does Luke.  We ended the day at our friends Super Bowl party but Luke didn't make it to the game, he wasn't really into the party and was asleep by 6pm (he goes to bed early and wakes early but I love his routine).  I am not really into sports but I love the food at a Super bowl party (big surprise) and I like the half time show.  I thought Katy Perry's show was great, what did you think?




Today I am grateful for family time, puppet shows, Super Bowl parties and delicious food!  What are you grateful for?