Playdate

We're always guaranteed to have fun at the Children's Museum.  We can go to outerspace, pretend to work in a restaurant, play with words, and teach in a turn-of-the-century classroom - all in one morning.  Soon there will be a new Arctic gallery, and well, that tickles us pink.  I hope there's ice fishing!

Here's to the weekend!
N

Jackpot!

The Bumblebee likes reading.  Let me clarify.  She likes me reading while she listens.  And that's cool.  In the last few years, we have read Charlotte's Web, Nancy Drew, Anne of Green Gables, and lots of Little House on the Prairie books.  I'm a sucker for reading.   Just before Christmas, the Bumblebee discovered the Bad Kitty books, and suddenly she wasn't waiting for me to read to her, and before I knew it, she had finished all of the Bad Kitty books, and I hadn't read a single page.  I felt a little left out.  I could hear her laughing in bed and staying up late to finish "just one more chapter".   And so the quest began to search out another series that would equally encourage this solo reading.  She had seen the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie and expressed interest in reading the book.  The library came to the rescue last week, and she's flying through the first book.  And this week, the second in the series came in, and it's just waiting in the wings.  I'd have to say I'm enamoured of this little one flipping through the pages and chuckling to herself.   I admit I've snuck in bed beside her and listened to her read aloud, and this Wimpy Kid is hilarious.   Maybe not the classic headstrong female heroine I've been pushing on her for the last while, but I'll take it if it means that she continues to love reading.  :)

N

If I Baked You a Cake, It Would Look Like This

Just vanilla cake with vanilla icing.  Nothing fancy or crazy like, say, a COUCH or a kitty litter box!  But it would come from my heart.

T.

If you were here, and I gave you this cake, we would eat big squares of it and wash it down with several cups of tea.  We might laugh, and half-chewed up pieces of cake would spray out of our mouths and hit the wall.  After we were done stuffing our faces with cake, we would retire to my couches that are not made of cake, and we would get out our sticks and string and make clickety-clack sorts of sounds for hours.  I would play some croony and swoony songs on my laptop, and eventually the Bumblebee would interrupt us and request some Ke$ha, and we would feel obliged because she has a dimple on her left cheek that is super sweet when she smiles.   We might look down and see our feet tapping to 'tik tok', but we wouldn't make fun of each other, and no one else would ever need to know.  The Bumblebee would also want some balloons blown up, and she would volley one around the room, and eventually it would pop so loud, we'd poop in our pants, and you would get up quickly and insist you leave immediately.   I'd agree because I would also need a change of clothes, and I'd fetch your coat, and the party would be over.

It would have been a blast.  Really.  Happy birthday, my friend! 

Be on the lookout for unexpected loud noises all year.

N

Heart Garland

Inspired by the heart garlands over at house on hill road, I got to work and made one.   My intent would be to make a gazillion, but time hasn't been on my side.   It's on my to-do list for now.  May this serve as a reminder.  To be honest, this little string of hearts only took a few minutes, but I made it a lot longer by gluing sheets of scrapbook wrong sides together so that the hearts were patterned on both sides.  Next time, I plan to embrace the white (wrong) sides, and save myself an hour of gluing and drying.   It really is as simple as cutting heart shapes free-hand and stitching them together with the sewing machine, and hanging it with tape.

Valentine's Day Decorating Music Mix:

• Comme des Enfants - Coeur de Pirate
• Flowers in the Window - Travis
• Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
• Nantes - Beirut
• Ce Jeu - Yelle
• I Feel it All - Feist
• Migrations - Christine Fellows
• Heartbeats - Jose Gonzalez
• Paperweight - Joshua Radin & Schuyler Fisk
• No Myth - Michael Penn
• Two Hearts - Jayhawks
• Ice Cream - Sarah McLachlan

Air hugs,
N

Weekend Musings

I've realized my idea of perfection in terms of Saturday mornings.  Wake up early while everyone is still sleeping, have a quick bowl of cereal, get dressed, drive to the market, knit with friends over cups of Balinese coffee, buy vegetables and fruit, drool over the cheese, smell the flowers, and return home to children fed and dressed - that part was just luck and a wee bit of timing.

Now it's Sunday morning, and I'm still in my pyjamas.  I've already got a roast and vegetables in the slow cooker, and the littlest has decided that today would be a good cupcake day.  She didn't have to convince me much, and now they are in the oven baking.   Next up, I have some finishing to do on a Simple Beret and the Ptarmigan Cowl, and there should be plenty of time to read a few chapters of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.  I'll be staying under my cozy blankets and soaking up the sun from the front window like a lazy cat.  It won't be all lying about as I have a soccer game after dinner.  Think of it as conserving energy. :)

N

Peppermint Deodorant

I was drooling and clicking on etsy last Saturday, and a Valentine's Day appropriate lip balm, a grapefruit patchouli facial soap, and a stick of peppermint deodorant made their way into my cart, and within six hours they were in my mailbox in a homemade cotton bag!  Jamie lives in London, and she was out doing deliveries (FREE) door-to-door.  It didn't take that much longer for the deodorant to make its way into my pit. :)  I'm loving the deodorant.  It's so minty that my armpits tingle when I roll it under my arms.  The most brilliant part is that as I move around all day, the scent makes its way up my shirt and into my nose.  I get high off of it.  I swear!!  It wakes me up.  My co-workers have been doing a lot of eye-rolling as I shriek and exclaim the wonders of my deodorant.  Can they not smell the peppermint??

The lip balm will be a Valentine's Day gift to the littlest who loves cinnamon and needs lip balm.  I feel as if I'm constantly reminding that sweet child to apply some chapstick.  The dry, cracked, bloody lips don't seem to phase her one bit.  I, on the other hand, have to look at them.

I have yet to try out the facial soap.  I'll probably test it out on the teen first, and then assess her skin over time.  If she doesn't break out from it, I will be buying it in bulk.  Wow, that kinda comes off as if she's my guinea pig.  I'll make her sign a consent form. :)

N

PS. This is not a paid endorsement.  This is how excited I honestly get by small stuff.  I did however have the table beside Jamie at the Handmade Festival last year, and we exchanged smiles and some small chit chat, and I just know that she is a lovely girl who is local, makes natural products, and delivers right to my door under six hours.  And that alone was blog-worthy.  Well, and my minty pits.

School Lunch First Aid

My newest trick to entice the girls to eat their lunch apple is to sprinkle cinnamon on the slices.  When the slices naturally brown from being exposed to the air, the girls think it's cinnamon.  Well, it IS cinnamon, but they eat them.  They think it's a special treat.  They wouldn't eat the slices before because they were brown, and they refuse to eat apples unless they're sliced.  This is brilliant.  It's almost as brilliant as the time my friend showed me how she flips the bread crusts, so the crust is facing the spread on the inside of the sandwich, and the kids haven't a clue that they just ate the crust.  I experimented this trick on my family with grilled cheese, and no one suspected a thing.  These tricks make me feel a wee sneaky, but we're wasting less food, so I feel it's a win-win.  Good food is making its way into their bellies and not into the garbage.  And like Martha would say, "Now THAT is a good thing."

N

Friday Night Skating

Friday nights around these parts are being spent skating.   It's a nice way to wind down a week of work and school.   We skate in circles, we tell stories, we make plans, we joke around, we laugh, we hold hands, and we hold each other up.  I think to myself as we go round and round that we are so lucky to be skating and letting loose. We're lucky we have one another and these moments.   It's the four of us against the world.  To make the night last longer, we follow it up with fancy hot chocolates at Starbucks, then we slowly drive home in the dark.  We dump our skates in the foyer, and we change into our pyjamas and get cozy under blankets and watch movies.  The teen is not in these pictures as she is the one snapping away because on this particular Friday night, her feet were sore, and if you've ever argued with a teenager, you would know it's pointless. :)

Here's to five more days 'til our next skate.
N

January

The house has been stripped of Christmas, and I can feel the rhythm of our everydays return again.  It's quiet.  It's warm.  It's bright.  My face is stuck on smile.   The busyness of school and work makes us appreciate our weekends more.  A roast is cooking slowly, the sun is shining, and my feet are up.  The knitting needles are clicking, and I'm coaxing Mr. J to leave his comfy spot on the couch to fetch me a cup of hot apple cider with no luck.   That's fine.  It's time to stretch my legs.  But if I'm getting up, I'm going to make it worthwhile.  I should start a new batch of bread dough.  That'll take five minutes tops.  Ooh, and there's a princess puzzle in progress on the dining room table that I can hit on my way back to the couch.   This is the life.

N

2011

Happy New Year!

I would have to read the archives to remember most of 2011.  If I'm correct, it was a lot of smooth sailing - not much craziness.  If my resolution last New Years was to live more simply, I think I'm getting closer.  I was steered towards soccer by friends, and I am grateful to those peeps.  I made myself a promise that I would knit twelve Elizabeth Zimmerman patterns, and I did cast on twelve; however, three have yet to be finished.  I'd say that wasn't horribly bad.  I didn't add too much yarn to the stash.  I was somewhat controlled.   I learned a lot about photography.   I got more involved with my community at public discussions, and I consider myself a heck of a lot more engaged.  I renegotiated our mortgage.   I connected with friends and family.  I started volunteering again after a bit of a hiatus.  I put my foot down and stood by my opinions.  I picked up my tennis racket again after two decades.   I went to some rockin' concerts.  I did not see any rattlesnakes or bears.  And it was all good.  I'm happy.  My family is healthy.  They have clothes, food and shelter.  They are loved.  I have everything I need and, more importantly, want.

I made my resolution back in November, and it's not really something I can conquer in one year, maybe never.  I'm going to be part of building a caring community.  I think Starship said it best.   They also built this city on rock and roll.  They were so ahead of their time.

And thanks, Kat, for reminding us that we didn't have to take our clothes off to have a good time!  Oh no.

N

Second Time's A Charm

For the story of this garland, check out my SECOND guest post over on the Canadian Living craft blog.  I had so much fun writing and making these garlands that I had enough for two posts!  Thanks, Austen, for the opportunity to contribute to your blog.  My fifteen minutes of fame were brilliant. :)

N

Guest Appearance and Pom Poms

I'm so excited!  (Now I have the Pointer Sisters stuck in my head.)  I guest-blogged over at the Canadian Living craft blog today.  Thanks, Austen, for letting me ramble on about pom poms.  'Cause pom poms are where it's at.  And for those of you living in my vicinity - why wasn't today a snow day, eh???   It totally should have been a snow day.  Thankfully the children only have two more school days left until their holidays.  I'm looking forward to two weeks of vacation. :)  Think of all the crafting that's possible in two whole weeks!

N

Pi Shawl Progress

Popping in to say hello!  I'm still very much consumed by this shawl.  I'm two-thirds through the third part, and I'm eager to double my stitches and start in on Part 4.  At this time, I'm ignoring housework, cooking dinner and the children.  The children are surprisingly happy to be doing their own thing - the littlest is cutting up empty cereal boxes and constructing what seems to be a hamster mansion with a wild disco theme.   I bet you wish I had taken pictues of that in place of this cream blob.  I promise it gets better. :)

Cheers!
N

Snow Days

We're on a second snow day here in southwestern Ontario.  No one is complaining.  There's been baking, playdates, cleaning, laundry, knitting, lots of shovelling, building snow forts, pyjamas, hot chocolate, movies, and lots of relaxing.  It's been a gift.

On the other hand, I'm very cognizant of the work piling up on my desk in the office, but it will have to wait.  The weather has other plans. :)

Cheers!
N

Gingerbread House

Holy moly cannoli.  It's snowing hard and crazy.  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . .

And speaking of  Christmas , we can check off decorating a gingerbread house. Done.

 

Now I'm going to have to dig out the driveway, so that I can get out to play soccer.   Bleh.

N

Party Down

 Sleeping in.  Check.

Big ol' cup of coffee for me.  Check.

 Hanging with her favourite cousin.  Check.

 Clown?????   CHECK!

 Crafting ornaments with ice cream cones.  Awesome check.

 A decorated tree.  Not ours.  We're deferring that one until tomorrow.

Verbally telling Santa she wants an ipod touch.  (Letter has been mailed - but she's still not getting one.) Check.

Sneaking in her one glass of pop for the month. (Please ignore what I think may be my Grampa's beer bottle in the bottom left-hand corner.)  Check.

Home safe and sound and high on sugary pop and chocolate balls and molasses crinkles.  Check.

Happy? Check.

N

Alpine Mitts

I bought this mitt kit at the Wellington Fibres booth at the Fleece Festival this year, and it didn't take long to cast on these puppies.   There were many colour combinations, but I picked blue and orange because I think they pop out together.  And there wasn't a kit with blue and white. :)   Dang it!  I'll make them match something.

For the most part, this is a simple pattern that doesn't require a lot of counting stitches.  That's what I like most about it because, to be honest, I like mindless knitting, and usually colourwork doesn't equal mindless for me.  The plaited cuff did throw me for a loop.  I've never used that technique before, and I was infinitely glad that it was only four rows, but I figured it out, and after that it was smooth sailing.  Now that they're finished, that little plaiting may be my most favouritest part of my new mittens.

And although I probably have amassed a giant pile of handknit mittens now, I think everyone deserves a pair of bright, new shiny mittens every winter.  Don't you?

N

Decking the Halls

Over the last decade, my parents have invited the grandchildren over to decorate their revolving, sparkling Martha Stewart Christmas tree.  This weekend was no exception.  We arrived to a bare tree and boxes of bows, balls, and ornaments, and by the end of the night, the tree is decked out from head to toe.  I love that they have favourite ornaments to hang, and they feel just as close to the ornaments with which my sister and I grew up coveting.  My favourite ornaments are the cream embroidered and stuffed stars that my mum made one year when I was in high school.  I also especially love the crystal beaded icicles that my sister, my mum and I slaved over for an entire afternoon so many years ago.  Maybe 25 years ago?   And now our children squeal when they pull out an icicle or the ceramic sled with all of their names written on it.  It's gold!

And then my mum makes a big dinner worthy of Christmas day.  This year was roast beef and gravy, mashed potatoes, baby carrots, corn and dinner rolls.  I brought pie and ice cream and cookies.  We ate until we were stuffed.  Naturally the board games were dragged out, and we ended up playing Apples to Apples.  My throat was killing me by the end of the night from all the screaming, laughing and joking around.  It was CRAZY fun.  I was in tears.  And everyone except the two little girls played - they took advantage of this time by moving every piece of my parents' furniture in the basement and building the biggest fort ever made. 

We had such a great time that we rolled up into our driveway well after midnight!

Clearly, this is happiness.  I am so grateful that I have my family, and we enjoy each other's company.  I am ever so thankful for our good health and good fortune.   I have everything I need.

N