I asked for this backpack from Terra Organica to be one of my Christmas gifts last year as I was looking for a new bag that I could wear on my back and was made in Canada with more conscious materials. I have used it a few times already this year, and love not only the depth of the bag, but the depth of the pockets inside. There are two that are perfect for a cellphone, one zippered pocket on the inside, plus another zippered pocket on the outside. I look forward to using it this summer while exploring and travelling.


How did we get to this point in time? I know talking about how quickly time passes is incredibly cliché, but looking through the birthday posts over the years, in preparation for this one, really makes me wonder what has happened to all of the time.
We celebrated another quiet birthday with pizza and a movie (Encanto). and he decided that this year he would like two lava cakes form Domino's Pizza for his birthday cake. I don't mind the quiet, but I know that he is looking forward to being able to have some time with friends.
This past year he has been building up his independence even more, and has started to ask what he can do to help when we are cooking supper, or when he sees us working around the house. We have talked more about little things that he has to start doing for himself, or be aware of for when he starts to take care of himself. He took a stay-at-home course through Zoom that brought up things to remember for safety when you are home alone -- like turning off the stove, etc.
There are so many building blocks and nuances that we are now working with, and I know it can be really overwhelming. I like that he has a group of friends that he can go to so that he doesn't have to worry about all of that all the time. He's in the middle of being a kid and being a teenager, and that can be a difficult place to be. Now is when we start to see all that we have coached him through really come to the surface.
As with each year that passes, I am curious to see what comes next. Everything with this kid is an adventure, and it's one I look forward to every day.

Originally designed as a card for a customer (back when I did custom work), I liked the sentiment behind this phrase that I decided to make it into an art print. I liked the idea of not being ashamed to daydream, and to have dreams for yourself that seem so far out of reach that they are up in the clouds. Sometimes it's nice to not have to worry about being grounded!





I heard the words "Reggio Emilia" for the first time many years ago from my first room partner. I knew that she wanted to "implement Reggio Emilia", but I had no clue what that meant as I had just started learning what it even meant to be an early childhood educator.
She gave me a textbook to read through called Working in the Reggio Way: A Beginner's Guide for American Teachers by Julianne P. Wurm, but I didn't end up looking at it until several years later when I found it shoved on a shelf along with the textbook Authentic Childhood: Exploring Reggio Emilia in the Classroom by Susan Fraser and Carol Gestwicki.
I had already completed my schooling when I sat down to read through each textbook, but I still did not know what the words "Reggio Emilia" meant, and had only heard whispers from the folklore that follows them around in North America.
I quickly learned that Reggio Emilia is, in fact, a city in Italy, and there is so much more to adopting the philosophies behind the program that has developed over nearly 80 years than simply switching out plastic toys for natural materials, making lovely presentations to encourage children to play, and taking photographs of what they are doing.
While there were aspects of it that intrigued me, like setting up the environment to be engaging enough to act as the third teacher, I still didn't quite understand everything that was involved; there were always little pieces that I understood, but I could never quite get them to fit together to make sense of the puzzle.
As I've been going through everything again, I have started to realise that the work I have done on my journey to understand anti-racism and anti-hate has helped me to understand that putting myself aside (my beliefs about children, my own traumas, etc.) is a necessary piece of the puzzle.
Through this work that I have done -- and, believe me, am still learning -- it is easier for me to understand that seeing children as capable means so much more than helping them learn how to do up their own zipper, or clean up their spot at the table; it means that I see myself as a collaborator with them, not just the person that is telling them what to do; it means asking questions in a way that gets them to think a little bit deeper and come up with ideas and solutions themselves.
It's been a slow process, and has taken a lot of learning and reflection, but, with the help of my room partner, we are starting to understand how we can put the philosophies of the Reggio Emilia approach into place in our classroom.

My husband noticed this little fellow from the shop Misfortunes by Noa Geffer hanging out on my computer screen one day and decided to get it for me for Christmas, and I love it so much! I really don't know what I like about it, but I find it so endearing. Maybe because it is such a strange interpretation of a dog, and I find that the colours and the ear remind me of Ivan, and because it makes me laugh, but in a fun way. It's so sweet.


Several years ago, I created a map of the city I grew up in that had a few of the places that stand out (to me) as places that would be recommended to visitors. They are the places that many locals would tell you are the first to pop into their minds when asked about something that stands out in their city, and they are places that I like to go myself.
In the middle of this map, I put the South Saskatchewan River as the riverbank is one of the things that Saskatoon is most known for, along with the bridges that help you go from one side of the city to the other. Since I drew the map, the city has gained a few more bridges, and so I created the Bridges art print to showcase the beauty of the bridges that help residents across the river.
Starting in the north end with the Chief Mistawasis Bridge and going all the way to the southern part of the river and the Gordie Howe Bridge, I drew the seven main traffic bridges that can be found in the city (yes there are a few more). I tried my best to pay attention to the details of each bridge, but still keep the simplicity of all of the other pieces of artwork that I have done.


When I started the journey of learning about Korean Skincare about a year and a half ago, I did not start off with the double cleanse, but with just a gel cleanser. I have never had a lot of luck with cleansers as I find that they tend to dry out my skin, but as time has gone on, and I have learned more about the reasons behind double cleansing, I have added the oil based cleanser into my routine.
THE MAKEUP REMOVER & OIL CLEANSER
My skin has always hated oil based products, but when I decided to start doing the double cleanse after learning that it is the best way to remove make-up, sunscreen, etc. the Green Beaver Co. Sensitive Skin Makeup Remover became an instant favourite. This is one product that I will never substitute with something else. I does an excellent job of removing my make-up (including my waterproof mascara), and has not irritated my skin at all.
I do this step every night regardless of make-up as it also cleans off my sunscreen. I noticed a huge difference in my skin after implementing this step, and it made me realise that I should have been doing it all along.
THE WATER BASED CLEANSER
Initially, I was using the gel cleanser from Cerave, but decided to try some of the Korean brands instead after the bottle was empty. I was anxious to try a foaming cleanser as they typically dry out my skin, but so far the Pure Fit Cica Cleanser from COSRX has been working really well. It does create a gentle lather as you rub it on your skin, but it doesn't tend to get overly bubbly and settles down into more of a paste as you rub it around.
This step is important as it cleans off the things left behind on your skin that cannot be cleaned with the oil based cleanser. I use this cleanser every night as my second step.
THE TONER
While the next step is typically exfoliation, it is not something that I do every day and I will get to it in another post, the next thing that I do after cleansing (on a non-exfoliating night) is apply Pixi Collagen Botanical Collagen Tonic to a reusable cotton pad, and then wipe and pat my face.
The toner was another product that I was anxious about because I had bad experiences in the past with alcohol based toners, but I know it is an important step because it helps to clear off any residue and dirt left behind from the cleansers.. Thankfully as time has passed, people saw the need for alcohol-free toners like this one, and I have absolutely no problems with it.
