Awww, my 5 year old wrote his very first, complete letter.  And it's addressed to me, isn't that sweet??  I should be so proud.  I would be, but unfortunately, the letter is part of the punishment for kicking his shoe off carelessly and hitting one of his classmates in the head. 

Ah, Life.

Look at the little treasure I found hiding under our air conditioning unit!  I remember my Mom pointing out the plant late last summer and commenting on it, but didn't remember what she had identified it as.  I'm glad I discovered it while it is in bloom -perhaps I can find somewhere to replant it where it will be appreciated more.  This is our first Spring in this house, and I'm still figuring out what plants we have, and what will do well where. 

Now, these lovely lilacs I knew were here & I've been waiting with anticipation for them to bloom!  I have one right outside my office window, which I'm thoroughly enjoying, and a couple out back.  I've always wanted a lilac bush!  Mmmmm, the scent is divine.

This one, I'm excited about because my son really enjoyed them last year; grape vines!  It's fun to watch them grow, and I'm sure he spent hours picking and eating them.  Don't the the new leaves have lovely colouring?

Another new feature here!  This one goes hand in hand with the "Design Inspiration" category, because anyone that knows me, knows I am a big time bargain shopper.  I love the thrift shops, garage sales (in fact, if it wasn't raining out today, I'd be scouring suburbia for treasures at this very moment) and have a very hard time spending full price on things for the house.  Above is my latest Canadian Tire find for $29.99 -can you believe it?  I've been coveting starburst style mirrors for a while now, and recently almost picked one up at Winners for $80.  I controlled myself, then found this one, almost the same when shopping in CT's outdoor decorations aisle, so I assume it can be hung oustside as well.  For me, it's adorning my newly painted chocolate (mmmmmm) feature wall behind our bed.  We're not done in there yet, so expect more design pics in the near future.

My next bargain is below; a Good Will find for $1.99.  Something about the shape and the graduated colour caught my attention.  It has a small ding in the interior lip, but nothing stays perfect for long around here, so I can live with it. Again, anyone that knows me, knows I'm not much for knick knacks, so if I pick something up, I must like it enough to put the effort into dusting it regularly.

As you can see, my post today has taken quite a different turn.  A challenge has been posted at Blog Catalogue to it's members to use their blogs today, May 15th, as a forum to help create awareness for the many people in Our World who do not have the freedom to speak or act for themselves.  Today, Bloggers Unite For Human Rights.

I don't want to preach here, instead to offer resources for learning.  I urge you to read and take action.  Amnesty International's website is an amazing resource, frequently updated with happenings from around the world.  They have local chapters, you can find out what campaigns are running, and what you can do to help.  Learn how you can help end illegal detention by the US by helping to Tear It Down, how you can help the most innocent victims of all, how you can help China Keep the Promise, and help end Violence Against Women.

Even if you feel you cannot do anything, or feel small and insignificant to the injustices your fellow humans are facing, please, I urge you to make yourself *aware* so these people are known, remembered, valued. 

Here we are, the best day of the year; the day when children young and old, near and far show their appreciation to the most important women in their lives; their Moms.  For the 46 hours of labour, the sleepless nights, the boo boos kissed, the temper tantrums quelled, and the myriad tasks too numerous to mention that we accomplish on the other 364 days of the year; today we are recognized. 

My day began at 6:15 with Gavin crawling into bed with us -I would have loved a bit of a sleep-in, but I shouldn't complain because I did get a very good quality snuggle.  During my morning pee -I know, I know, too much information, but this is the reality of having a 5 year old (and I *know* you just snickered out loud when you read that)- he presented me with the above card.  Inside as you can see, contained a specially designed envelope containing a number of rather festive strips of polka-dotted paper that he proceeded to throw up into the air & leave me to clean up off the bathroom floor.

The rest of the day was just as festive, with a lovely brunch prepared by my (scruffy) husband of asparagus frittata, the thickest most delicious bacon I've ever experienced, and a refreshing fruit salad of pineapples, grapes and marachino cherries (?!).  Along with the good company of my In-Laws, we had a very memorable day. 

Of course, tomorrow I will tackle the job of degreasing the cook top and surrounding area -can't think of that today though, I'm pretty sure it's illegal in this province to do housework on Mother's Day.  

I'm posting an image before & after I played with it a little -I love to play.  This, I call a "Softlight" effect; it works especially well with babies & Moms because it's extremely dreamy, feminine & flattering.

The "before" -already a lovely image, in my opinion:

The "after", converted to a brown-toned black & white, and softened with my Softlight effect.  The real trick is maintaining the sharpness of the eyes and not softening the features too much. 

Thank you to all who attended yesterday's Spring Mini-Shoot event!  I've just started going through the images -there are lots; I'm a terrible overshooter, but I don't want to miss anything.  Can't resist posting a few sneak peeks for you!

It seems that someone has inherited my sense of colour and pattern.  So proud am I, being a creative person to see a tiny glimpse of myself in my offspring.  He's also showing an aptitude for math and measuring -those he gets from his Dad. 

Small things in our daily lives can hold such personal significance.