Welcome back to round two of Behind the Blogger.  Today we're getting to know Carrie from alovelylittlewardrobe, Deena from shoestoshiraz and Sarah from foxysdomesticside.


1. Are you athletic? What kinds of sports did you play?


I am now but growing up I played zero sports. I was a cheerleader...surprise!








I started with figure skating and switched to ringette, I tried soccer and basketball but didn't like them.  I played competitive fastball for 30 years.  I also played volleyball.  I love sports, I may or may not be a little bit competitive.



















2. Favourite chore? Least favourite chore?












Is organizing a chore?  I love sitting down with my agenda on Sundays and planning out our meals and everything that needs to be done.  Least favourite is emptying the garbages, I throw up in my mouth a little everytime.




















3. What was your first job?










I would say babysitting too, but my first real job was at a Honda dealership where my Dad worked- I was the customer courtesy driver, the car washer and the inventory counter.


















4. If you could only see one concert, who would you see?

Welcome to our newest series on the Blended Blog!  We came up with this idea at the Vegas blog conference and thought it would be fun to see what someone else would pick out for us to wear.  Luckily, I had many willing participants in the house this particular day to use for what you are going to see today.

Let me set the scene:



It was a lazy Saturday morning.  My mom was feeling energetic and simultaneously washing my cupboards while making a chicken caesar salad.  Willis was baking cookies and our Jen was enjoying a sleep in.  Lucia, having slept until 9, only wanted to go snuggle with Jen and wake her up.  Dan was in his happy placing out on his tractor, trying to get some cutting done before the rain storms came. The perfect setting to have some fun in prep for the inaugural Styled by Someone Else post.

When asked to go pick something out of my closet for me to wear, jewelry and makeup included, this is what they picked.

Lucia: She liked the colours together and specifically wanted red lipstick, pink blush and gold eye shadow.  She's a nut.

Mom: She wanted orange shoes, how do you not have orange shoes, she asks?  She was going for neutrals with a pop of bold pattern.  She requested purple lips to contrast the orange accents.

Willis: He was going for a flowery look, clearly, because I'm wearing EVERY FLORAL PIECE I OWN. And the nude lip and hair in a pony.

Kinsey: She's a color coordinator at it's best...all kinds of blues with bold red lips.


Jen: She built the outfit around a piece she liked.  She wanted my makeup to be minimal with black eyeliner.



In the end, I had a blast seeing what other people would choose for me.  Considering I spend most of my shopping time dressing other people, this was a nice change!  I look forward to seeing the next interpretations when we bring this series back mid July.

1) Summer Reading Program:
I remember getting the colourful booklets to fill out of my summer reads at the Cuelenaere Library and being so pumped if mine was up on the wall.  I filled my summer reading Little House on the Prairies, Babysitters' Club or likely Sweet Valley High.  Willis and Lucia have just started the Summer Reading Program at the Saskatoon Public Library and are way ahead of schedule.  Willis is currently enjoying the Hardy Boys series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Yuck.  Sure, they aren't classics (we tried Boxcar Children and all things Roald Dahl), but these have him reading at all hours. He is now a bonafide bookworm and I love it.  Lucia, on the other hand, my goal was to have her reading by the end of summer, but I think we may have conquered that this past weekend. You'll have to skip over to my blog to see the cute video.



2) Road trips, specifically to B.C:
Our annual trip as kids was 14 hours away to my aunt's place in Vernon.  No DVD players, no Ipods, just homemade cassette tapes with NKOTB mixes that I would beg my parents to play and many, many books to read.  I also once convinced my brother and sister that I could sleep with my eyes closed.   My kids have made the road trip a couple times already and each time they look forward to it even more.  We will go old school too on our roadtrip, limiting the handheld devices and optimizing the conversation, sing-a-longs, story time and the beauty of driving through the Rocky Mountains.


3) Playing outside/ imagination games:
I spent a lof of my summers outside bossing my brother and sister around.  We would put on backyard plays, magic shows and do fundraisers for our Kids' Only Club. Thankfully there wasn't cell phones for videoing back then, I can just imagine the embarrassing footage they'd have of me.  My kids will spend the majority of their days outside adventuring on their bikes, geo-caching around our acreage, weeding the garden, picking berries and playing in the pool.  There has got to be something said for liberal, carefree play that let's their imagination take over.  I can't wait to video EVERYTHING to use as blackmail later in life.


4) Camping Trips:
We were spoiled growing up in Prince Albert with so many beautiful lakes and beaches from 15 minutes to an hour away.  I'm sure we packed up and went camping every weekend available and I am so grateful for that.  We had everything from a tent trailer to a motor home growing up and one of my favourite things were rainy days when you would just open the windows and listen to the rain, playing endless card games and likely fighting, however, I don't remember the fighting.  Mom and Dad may think differently.  While we only have a tent and don't really venture out just as  little family, my kids do get plenty of opportunity to head out with my parents and their motorhome to enjoy the fresh air and all the fishing they want.  In fact, they may be taking off this week with them already.  What better way than that to celebrate the end of school?



What kinds of activities did you do as a child that you're dying to bring back for your kids to experience?

Hey guys, Deena here.  I wanted to introduce you to a blogger I have recently met in the huge blogosphere out there.  Dana, from I Adore What I Love is someone that I know I would hang out with if we didn't live so far apart.  She has great taste and has created a unique blog that I have really enjoyed reading.  Two of her favourite posts are Iced Coffee Cubes for the Win  and 15 Things I've Learned About Being a Mom After 15 Months
Meet Dana, I know you'll love her:

Blogger 8