First Day of School 2024

This school year, our family is experiencing a lot of firsts and lasts. 

• First time not taking a "first day of school" photo of my oldest son. (He's going into his second year of university, so I gave him a pass. It was a good run! lol) 
• First day of grade 10 for my youngest son.
• First day of grade 12 for my middle son... and his last "first day" of school ever. (Cue the tears!)

The older my boys get, the more I treasure our photos and traditions. Here are few snapshots from this morning.

Have a great school everyone!

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Moist and Delicious BLUEBERRY LEMON LOAF

I'm usually a "chocolate" girl when it comes to dessert, but I'm also a sucker for the combination of blueberries and lemon. Recently, I made this loaf, and my husband said that it was the best thing I've ever baked. Pretty high praise! Give the recipe a try and let me know wheat you think.

Ingredients for loaf:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp real vanilla
• zest of one lemon (approx. 2 tsp)
• juice from one lemon (approx. 2 Tbsp)
• 1/2 cup cream (you can use milk instead, but I like the richness of the cream)
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (cleaned and mixed with 1 Tbsp flour)

Ingredients for lemon glaze:

• 2 Tbsp melted butter
• 1/2 - 3/4 cups powered sugar
• juice from one lemon (approx. 2 Tbsp)
• 1/2 teaspoon real vanilla

Directions:

1. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. (You can use butter to grease the pan, but the parchment paper makes it a lot easier to get it out of the pan in one piece.)
2. Whisk the dry ingredients (flour, salt, and baking powder) together.
3. In a separate large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Once it is combined, start adding the cream and flour mixture -- alternating and adding a bit at a time. Don't overmix. You just want to incorporate all the ingredients.
4. Gently fold in the flour coated blueberries.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake for 55-65 minutes. Check readiness by inserting a toothpick into the centre of the loaf. It's done when it comes out clean.
6. Cool bread in the pan for about 30 minutes, and move to a wire cooling set on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. (The baking tray and parchment will catch the glaze that drips of the loaf and make clean up easier.)
7. Prepare glaze by whisking ingredients together. Add 1/2 cup powered sugar, and add more until desired consistency is achieved. 
8. Poor glaze over the loaf, allow to set, and enjoy!

This loaf is absolutely delicious! Give it a try and let me know what you think.

You may also be interested in trying this yummy cookie recipe:

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

10+ NEW Dollarama DIYs with cheap blanks! / Cricut beginner vinyl decal projects

If you like creating DIY gifts and DIY home decor (on a budget), you are going to love the dollar store finds and Cricut blanks I'm sharing today. Take a look at the video I made, browse the pictures below, and let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy!

What did you think of the video? Here are a few more pictures of my favourite projects...

Did you have a favorite find or project? I'd love to know which things you liked the most!

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Simple DIYs for FALL and BACK TO SCHOOL

Last week, I popped into the dollar store to check out the new Fall items. I grabbed some great things... and I was inspired to do a couple of DIYs. Scroll to the bottom of this post to watch the video I made. It's a good one!

I'm obsessed with the double sided rolling pin. I can use it for Fall AND Halloween!

And you won't believe how easy it is to customize gift bags for the first day of school!

Check out al the fun here:

Have you found any good and inexpensive Fall items lately? Are you planning any Fall DIYs? I'd love to hear about them. :-)

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Olympics... free colouring pages and MORE!

The 2024 Summer Olympics are fast approaching, and it got me thinking about how much fun my boys and I had celebrating the games when they were younger. I thought it would be fun to revisit some of the crafts we did together. I'm also sharing some all new FREE printable colouring sheets.

To download the free colouring pages I designed: click on the picture of the colouring page you want to print, right-click, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 8x10 photo. 

In addition to the colouring pages, you can:

Bake an Olympic cake.

Make an Olympic flag.

Make Olympic medals.

Make an Olympic torch.

Which Olympic event are you most looking forward to watching? I hope you have some little ones to celebrate with, and you enjoy these free Olympic colouring pages and crafts.

♥ 
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

Birthday Letter to my Middle Son on his 17th Birthday

Every year on my boys' birthdays, I write them letters. I'm hoping to created little "snapshots" of their personalities that they can look back on see how special they were to me at every stage of their lives. Today, I'm sharing the birthday letter I wrote for my middle son on his 17th birthday.

My sweet boy,

As you turn 17, I can't help but think about how close you are getting to adulthood. Before you reach your next birthday, you will graduate from high school, and start a whole new journey. For now, I will treasure every moment I have left with you living under my roof. You are a special boy, and I couldn't be more proud to be your mother.

• Hockey and golf are your passions, and you work hard to be the best you can be at both. I'm proud of your positive attitude, team mentality, and personal effort.
• You are one of the most empathetic and loyal people I know. I'm not surprised that you have so many great friends.
• A few weeks ago you got your licence, and you are enjoying the increased independence. It's stressful for me, but you are a really good driver.
• You are enjoying your job at the golf course with your brother, and you are an excellent employee.
• You love chicken broccoli pesto pasta, cereal, and gummy bears.

I love how close you and your brothers are, and I love when we all spend time together. I hope you enjoy our family movie nights and vacations as much as I do.

Continue to be the kind, strong-willed, hardworking, smart, active, loving boy that you are. 

I love you to the moon and back!

Mom xox

Birthday Letter for my Youngest Son on his 15th Birthday

Every year on my boys' birthdays, I write them a birthday letter. My hope is to create a "snapshot" of their personalities each year. Today, my youngest son turns 15, and here is his birthday letter.

To my Sweet Boy:

As I watch you and your brothers grow up, your birthdays seem to hit me the hardest. You are my "last" everything... the last boy to call me Mommy, the last boy to start school, the last boy to turn 15, etc... Time goes by too quickly, and I am trying to enjoy every moment.

As I reflect on the past year, I'm reminded of some of the things that make you the most special 15 year old boy on the planet:

• Your confidence is growing every day, and I'm so proud of how far you have come. The little boy who cried every day I dropped him off at preschool has been replaced by an independent young man that confidently headed off to live in residence at StFX last week.
• You love Crispers, multi-grain Wheat Thins, Froot Roll Ups (which you only get on your birthday and at Christmas) and Honey Bunches of Oats cereal. You also love pancakes... especially the first ones to come out of the pan.
• Hockey continues to be your passion, and you are working hard to become the best goalie you can be. Dad and I love to watch you play... even though it is stressful for your mother.
• You love hanging out with your brothers and cousins... especially on vacation, at the rink or on the golf course.
• You love being at home with your family (just like your mother). You are a big fan of playing board games, "fat bat" in the yard, watching movies, and listening to music in your room.

As you inch closer to independence and adulthood, you should know that you'll always be my "baby".

Love you to the moon and back,

Mom

xox