Oh Alvine Kottar Ikea curtains, where art thou?

I finally found the perfect curtains for our master bedroom, or so I thought.

I got my happy dance on and was all ready to jump in the car and drive to Ikea with my start the car commercial excitement, the windows wide open and my woot woot holla'rin. I felt like that girl from the Ikea sales commercial:



then I find out...

IKEA HAS DISCONTINED THEM!

If anyone knows where I can find four Alvine Kottar curtain panels or if you have seen similar ones somewhere I'll dance and sing and shower you with joy. Um, ok, maybe my dancing and singing might take away from the joy part but I would be very grateful and thank you very much!

[Alvine Kottar curtains from Ikea]

I am...

still here.

A few of you have been wondering where I've been. My mom had knee replacement surgery last week so I've been pulled in a few different directions with helping her out and keeping on top of things here.

I've taken so many pictures, had so many thoughts and haven't been able to find a moment to write about any of them. Hopefully I'll have some time soon.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Much Love Monday {coffee to start the day}

I'm always looking for a new K-Cup flavour to try in my Keurig [a much loved Christmas gift from the fam]. Coconut is one of those little things that make me happy, so when I saw Island Coconut staring at me from the shelf I had to try it.


Yum!

I'll be adding that to my list of faves that include Green Mountain Rain Forest Nut, Gloria Jean's Butter Toffee, Timonthy's Cinnamon Roll, Pumpkin Spice and Midnight Magic, Kona Tully's Extra Bold and a few others.

What's your favourite K-Cup flavour?

I buy my K-Cups from Markol Distibrution in Pickering, ON [they have other locations too]. Great selection and great price!

Library Love

I love libraries!

All the information.

The wealth of knowledge waiting to be consumed.

This past week I've baked a cake with a hen, a cat and a rat. I drew pictures with a purple crayon. I've roamed through a few Japanese gardens. I picked blueberries with Sal and her mother. I think tonight I'll tour England with Madeline, but for now I'll be the Girl Lost In Translation.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Marble-riffic!

Bella and I stopped by the mailbox yesterday and received some very special mail. Connor's painting arrived! Bella was super excited and has been carrying it around with her everywhere we go.

Thank you, Connor!

You can visit Connor's website at Marble For MS.

first post about Marbles For MS here.

My First Guest Post!

Me with my beautiful kids

I was thrilled when Angela (from Gracie's Mum: A story of a Mum with MS) asked if I would be her first guest post. You can check it out today on her blog!

Let's Celebrate With Will And Kate

It was quite the royal affair this morning watching Will and Kate's wedding. I'll admit, I didn't get up in the wee hours of the morning but we did tune in the moment we got up and joined in the celebration, with tiara in place. I pvr'd the ceremony so I'll be watching its entirety later on today.

I remember the day Charles and Diana got married, sitting at the bottom of my mom's bed, every TV station plastered with photos from the event. It's not a very vivid memory but a memory none the less.

As we were watching Will and Kate waving from the horse drawn carriage, Bella announced that she was going to marry daddy so she could be a princess too, a little melt your heart moment.

I'm not sure if Bella will remember today, the day Will and Kate got married, but at least we have some pictures to commemorate the event.

Bella wouldn't let me turn the channel.
She kept calling Kate a princess

clips from the ceremony

waiting with the crowd to see the newlyweds

the newlyweds appear

Easter Monday

The kids are home from school today but Steve had to work so it has been a pretty relaxing Easter Monday.

I managed to pull all the moss out from between the patio stones and sweep the patio with patio sand before the rain started.

Bella has had an art-filled day

Lucas was playing with a friend and is now lounging on the sofa playing his DS with his best friend, Tiger

Bella finished her painting

and then remembered her big chocolate Ariel...YUM!

How was your Easter?

MS Walk

Yesterday was the MS Walk in our area. Did anyone get a chance to make it out or, if it hasn't happened in your area yet, will you be walking this year?

I'm a little disappointed that we didn't participate this year but it has been a busy few months. Our friend was diagnosed with Leukemia back in October and has been doing rounds of chemo while waiting for a bone marrow match, which was recently found -- YAY! He and his wife have two young children, one of which is Luke's friend, so we've been helping with having him play over here and making dinners to send over. Friends and family held a fundraiser last month to help keep them going. The turnout was phenomenal and the support to help their family has been overwhelmingly wonderful! I've met a lot of great people along the way.

I've had a flare-up going on for the last few weeks and my back hasn't been in great shape either so I'm not sure walking 5k right now would have been the best idea. I've been going to a chiropractor since the beginning of March. It's helping a bit but not as much as I had hoped. I'm going to give it a bit more time and see how it goes.

I'm hoping to bring Team Keep On S'myelin! together again next year. We did a great job last year by raising over $3000!

I am truly thankful for all the support I have.

Here are some pictures from the 2010 MS Walk...

Team Keep On S'myelin! shirts

Bella ready to go

and we're off!

A little stop along the way

Sheba and I with her family and my hubby

My amazing team -- Team Keep On S'myelin!

The Love Continues

One of the most delightful things about a garden

is the anticipation it provides.
~W.E. Johns~

Much Love Monday continued into Tuesday. The sun was shining. The air was somewhat warm. I decided it was time I get out of the house, treat myself to a Bold Mint Cafe Misto at Starbucks and stroll through Chapters -- one of my favourite things to do!

Chapters is blooming with all things Spring! It was so relaxing to walk by the unique assortment of gardening gifts (a few pictured above), the stacks of gardening books gracing the tables and the beautiful spring colours overflowing on the shelves. I smelled the candles, browsed the books and toured the magazines. I was stopped by a lovely associate to introduce me to the new free Plum Rewards program. I'll have to check it out.

It was a perfect way to spend an hour! I could have lost myself in the store for a lot longer if I didn't have to pick up Bella from daycare. There's always another day!

I had a Parent Council meeting last night so that took up most of the evening. When I came home the kids were sleeping so I relaxed with Steve on the sofa, checked my emails and watched a bit of TV. He dozed off and so I went upstairs, got my jammies on, turned on OWN and watched Oprah's Master Class featuring Oprah herself. I really enjoyed watching her talk about her life. There's something about how she speaks that inspires me.

Today it's raining, but with so much happiness that filled my life yesterday it has spilled over to today!

Enjoy your Wednesday!