One last time...

A few posts ago, I wrote about changes that I was going through, and how I wanted to express them in this space, but felt that I couldn't. I was going to continue to blog to a different address.

And then got scared by the change (and well, what if no one wants to read about it?) and told you I changed my mind, I "chickened out" and came back crawling to Purplicious.

With all this back and forth, I did something to the format of my blog that affects when I write new or edit posts. Something unintended and I have no idea what it is. But now when I try write a new post, things are all different and really hard to work with. I'm not a computer genius when it comes to formatting blogs and web pages, therefore, I can't fix it.

So, I took it as a sign: I have to start a new blog after all.

But I had to register a new blog under a whole new profile, as keeping the same profile kept the messed up posting layout for me. (Like I said, I have no idea what I did).



So here it is. You can follow me over at Petals and Sunshine (same name as I had decided before, just a slightly different address. If I already follow your blog and you've noticed the above picture in your followers as "Sunshine Mama", it's me :) Just a new profile.

And don't worry, I'll still post recipes on my new blog. It's just going to have a more creative feel to it, as I am starting to craft a lot more with the kids and making some homemade cleaners and such for our home. It's going to be sort of a Purplelicious Part 2, but a more evolved version of it I suppose.

I hope you continue to follow us on our life journey!

Lots of creative, fun, colorful (and hopefully inspiring) things are waiting for you at my new blog!

Raw caramel sauce: It tastes good, AND it's good for you!

A couple weeks ago, Sheri, from Green and Crunchy shared a recipe for a raw caramel sauce. I found myself making it today, for the second time in just a couple weeks, because, well... it's that good!

My kids still wont try it though. They have been very picky eaters lately, but that's ok. It's not like I need their help to eat this, haha. I only do half the recipe and then I eat this sauce as a dip with apple slices all week. Either as a snack, or as a late night sweet craving kinda treat, or just on a spoon. Because really, it's that good, so who needs the apple?



You can find the recipe HERE.

I am going to keep offering this to my kids and eventually, they will eat it. I just have to be patient. Because it tastes good, AND it's good for them! Now that's my kind of recipe!

We have a winner!

I got my two sweeties to do the draw for the giveaway today.



They were very excited to have such an important task and they did a great job!

And the winner is....



T.J.!
I will e-mail you to get your mailing information.

Congratulations T.J. and thanks to everyone who has participated. And a HUGE thank you to Cathy from Tiny Tree Huggers, for making this giveaway possible.

Giveaway reminder :)

***************Contest now closed*******************

Just a reminder that you still have 3 days (including today), to enter my giveaway.

You can do it HERE.

Good luck!


Note: I will most likely be away from this space for the next couple days, as my husband is home and the sun is finally shining. It's time to enjoy some well deserved family time in the great outdoors. I'll be back soon!

Have a great day!

Spring, Summer, Winter, spring again... Mother nature must have a concussion!

I swear, I think Mother nature has a concussion or went on vacation! Within 7 days, we went through all 4 seasons (minus the changing leaves), multiple times.

It's been raining and snowing and cold all weekend, so we are just hanging out at home, creating with play dough, baking, reading books (oh and did some spring cleaning too!). I guess once in a while, it's nice to just sit back and relax though.

Considering it was summer weather just 5 days ago, I thought I'd share with you some recent pics... from when the weather was nice, and we were thoroughly enjoying every minute of it!

Last week, I bought some plants for our balcony to bring more nature into our lives. And one evening, as the sun was setting, I went on my balcony and basically had a little photo shoot with my little potted friends.

I just love how these flowers pop in this picture, it might just be one of my favourite flower pictures I've taken in a long time.



A strawberry plant at sunset :)



And these last two were taken exactly 5 days ago, when it was over 30 Celsius outside. We went to a friends place and my kids played with her 7 children (they are such an awesome family!) and had so much fun! They ran through the sprinklers, played in the sand box, ate watermelon, and jumped on the trampoline.



It was such a perfect afternoon! I can't wait to do it again! In the mean time, I choose not to let this grey weather weigh us down, and I am hanging on to the warmth of this cute smile.



Because I know that in just a few more days, it might very well be summer, all over again.

Enjoy the rest of your long weekend and may the sunshine, wherever you are!

Through my son's eyes...

My smarty pants little boy loves electronics!

Weather it's listening to music using MY iPod or checking the weather on my Blackberry phone (and yes, he figured out how to do that all by himself!), playing games (supervised and occasionally) on the computer, he just loves things with buttons. So I should not have been surprised when I realized he had been snatching my camera when I was not looking to take some pictures. He's becoming pretty obsessed with taking pictures actually. I think it's really great that he's loving it so much (especially since I love it so much as well), so I let him do it. After all, photography IS a form of art, and I strongly believe that art is SUCH a great way for kids to express themselves.

So I thought I'd share some of his pics with you. Of course, I left out the ones of my behind, my elbow and our kitchen floor, LOL. But he did get some good ones. I was impressed actually, considering he's only 4 1/2 years old!


His sister was actually posing for him this way.




Fridge art. Yaya's watercolor painting from last week.





Fridge art. His own watercolor painting from last week as well.




Yaya being caught peeking (or more like completely standing) IN the fridge :)



I think we are going to do this exercise more often. I found it really interesting to see what interests him, what catches his eye, and what life is like from his level.

Have a happy weekend!

My very first giveaway!!!

****************Contest now closed*******************



The very lovely Cathy from Tiny Tree Huggers generously donated the items for my first blog giveaway! Tiny Tree Huggers is a local store, right in my little town, and boy am I glad she opened it! The store carries everything from cloth diapers, to nursing accessories, along with a huge selection of Melissa and Doug toys. My kids love this store as much as I do. Between all the cool wood toys and the big selection of art supplies, it's hard for us to come out empty handed!


As you can see in the top picture, the giveaway is two "write-a-mat" from Melissa and Doug, along with a set of the Learning Mat Crayons. I thought it was perfect for a giveaway, as we already own a few (and yes, I bought them from Tiny Tree Huggers :) ), and they are the best!

The kids can color, learn to trace letters, numbers, or even learn fun facts about planets or dinosaurs. The ones for this giveaway are the Numbers and Alphabet mats.





It keeps my kids busy weather they are just in the mood to draw, or if they are just feeling impatient while waiting for lunch. It provides a great distraction! And they are actually easy to wipe, just like it promises.




HOW TO ENTER:

#1 Simply leave a comment on here to be entered in the giveaway!

#2 Blog about the giveaway and link back to Purplelicious for an extra entry. But don't forget to come back and leave me a comment to let me know you did so.


Contest entries will be accepted until Thursday, May 27Th at midnight. The winner will be announced the following day.

Now, go on, enter!