Picture Frames for the Master: Help Needed

So instead of committing to some colourful or crazy, super designerish decor for the master bedroom, my husband and I cleaned things up, went with white and neutrals and embraced the clean and simple look.  Overall, I'm happy with it.

However, the empty spaces on the walls throughout the bedroom, I am not so happy with.

These spaces are empty because, well, we're not sure what to fill them with.  I think we have decided on picture frames with our own black and white photographs (cheaper and more sweet and personal for a bedroom than art).

The spaces I am looking to fill are directly above the headboard (pictures #1 and 2 below) and to the left of the window (picture #3 below).  Now the question is:  how big are the picture frames, how numerous and what do they look like (colour, width, style).  So here are a few pics of the "empty spaces" in my bedroom .... would love to hear what you think I should do.

(Yes, my bedside table is the messy one!)

(The light fixture is next on the list)

Apologies on the pictures, it's really tough to get far enough back to get the whole room in (and I was too lazy to clean up the entire room so didn't want to show the whole thing :))

Whitney

Whitney Houston and her music provided the soundtrack to so many amazing memories for me.

In the eighties, my Mom and I cruised around in our brown Chevrolet Cavalier station wagon blaring Whitney's cassette tapes (me reading the lyrics on the insert - remember those?). We loved her and she was a part of every road trip.

As a part of a grade five class performance, we had to learn "The Greatest Love of All." Looking back I am quite confident we did not do it justice, but my obsession with Whitney was fuelled.

I remember going to see the BodyGuard with two of my good friends in grade eight and the domination of "I Will Always Love You" over the air waves.

Her duet "When You Believe" with Mariah Carey on her new album in late nineties - loved it too!

If you have never seen her sing her star spangled performance in 1991, it's worth the two+ minutes of your time... goosebumps.

I loved Whitney and her music. This week has been non-stop Whitney on the ipod. I don't think there will ever be a voice like hers - so effortless, so raw, so full of emotion with so little effort or "try."

Experiments with the Kids

My eldest son brought home a wonderful book last week from school that included all sorts of awesome experiments that can be done at home.

As you probably know first hand, usually such experiments or activities can require a lot of time, effort, ingredients and patience and they are tough for a wide range of ages. I was pleasantly surprised by this book and would recommend as a gift or library item in the future if you are looking for some fun and educational stuff to do (especially with March break coming).

Here is just a few of the things we did:

Change-A-Colour Celery

Simply add some celery to a glass of
water with some food colouring and wait for
it to change colour

Create-Your-Own Mould Ranch

Take some old, moist food and put it in a jar...

seal it up and wait for the mould to grow!

Green Goo

1 cup of corn starch and 1/2 cup of water
and a few drops of food colouring

Have fun!

Wearing White

As females (apologies to the random male that may be reading this i.e. Dad), we are trained from a very young age, the dangers of wearing white.  The impracticality and potential embarrassment of white is ingrained at a young age - no white ski coats, pass on the white canvas sneakers, white shorts can be see through and anything white worn on the bottom half of your body at certain times of the month is a no no.  But what about the top half of your body?

I have a white, winter vest that I love to wear when it is mild. This week, it was mild and I threw it on for some errands around town. Halfway through my adventures, I caught my reflection in a full length mirror and all of the above-mentioned lessons came flashing back to me: first off, my vest was filthy as white always is (Mom, you were right!), but if I looked closer, glaring out from my inside "hidden" chest pocket in my vest were, very clearly, three very visible "items" that us females stow away to keep private but to have on hand at certain times when you need them. I'm not going to come out and spell it out for all of you, you know what I'm talking about and there's no mistaking what they are if you see these items. Needles to say I was mortified that I had dropped my kids off at school that week and been in public multiple times with my "hidden" items on display for all to see.

Lesson #3: WHITE IS SEE THROUGH


I had obviously forgotten this all important lesson when filling my pockets ... now I have been reminded and the pocket will be reserved for loose change, cell phone and other neutral, non-mortifying items.

If you have white coats ladies - be warned:  white on the top can be just as dangerous as on the bottom :)

Can I Come In?

My best line from yesterday:

"If you can play on the iPad for 30 minutes ... 

... you can play outside for 30 minutes!"

I then promptly replaced a wet pair of mitts with dry ones, said "have fun" and closed the sliding glass door to outside.

Get those kids outside, whether they like it or not :)

After the tough-mom pep talk, my kids lasted for about 30 minutes more!