Can I have more spinach mama?

If Baby C could talk that's what she would have said after dinner tonight. I am proud to say that my baby girl loves spinach. And this is all that is left of dinner.

I really need to take pictures before we start to eat. Please excuse the terrible photo!

It was a cheater meal as I like to call it. One of those cream soup casserole type things... whole wheat pasta, spinach and chicken but it was well received and the leftovers (or lack thereof) speak for themselves. And yeah! Baby C has a new super healthy favourite food.

For your boo boo

Baby C is learning the hard way about gravity, the edges of couches and how not to get off a kitchen chair. The poor girl always has a bump, bruise or sometimes even a skinned knee. She always comes crying but hates when I give her ice because it is too "Coal" as she says. So I fixed that problem and made her a kiddie sized hot/cold pack.

Knowing how much she still chews on things I wanted it to be washable so I used some muslin scraps to make an inner bean bag filled with flax seeds and then made and envelope style pouch using some carnival bloom scraps (didn't I say the girls would be seeing a lot of this print in the next few weeks?). So far its a hit, but I'll find out for sure tomorrow when I'm sure we will need to put it into use!

Love the Mailman

I love the mail, I mean I really, really love the mail. Especially when it is a package from Tonic Living, my favourite online fabric store. The best part about them - they are local and they ship to my postal code free! I'm telling you its dangerous. I discovered Tonic Living last year when I was picking out fabric for my Mei Tai and fell in love with the carnival bloom print (the brown one). I mean fell in love with it. I can't get enough of this print and have a feeling that I'll be seeing a lot of it lately (and it comes in a flannel so it would make some great loveys, bibs, burp cloths.. oh Sadie, I hope you like brown and pink!).

These fabulous prints arrived yesterday. I have great plans for this fabric. Some will become nursing covers, other bean bags and soothing eye pillows and I'm thinking a little lovey blanket for Sadie. Now I just need the girls to actually sleep at the same time so that I can sit down at my sewing machine and put these plans into action!

52 Books :: Week 31 (Book 28)

I really really loved Stitch 'N Bitch so I'm going to try out Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. Besides the fact that I think the title is hilarious, I think it will be a good read/instruction book. I am getting sick of the limited number of blanket patterns that I can crochet.

Starting Over

I finished this lacy butterfly dishcloth last night but was feeling kind of luke warm about it. I was reading the directions for some of the other patterns on the site and realized that in order to get the proper look it has to be blocked every time its washed. And I mean seriously blocked. I don't have that kind of time so I ripped it out and am going to make a few more of my old standby granny dishcloths instead.



I am also starting on a set of knit baby blocks for Baby S from Knitting For Baby. She has been grabbing for toys for a little while now but tonight was the first night that you could tell by the look in her eyes that she knew what she was doing. I also think that Baby C could use a few more soft toys to share with her sister... she tries so hard to play but Baby S just isn't cooperating and at 18 months Baby C doesn't quite get it (and we are still working on being gentle). But man is it cute to watch!

Four years ago

For years ago today married my best friend. It was a beautifully perfect day. It poured rain (and I mean poured), we lost a flower girl half way down the aisle (she ran away screaming "no"), my niece's finger got caught in a door just as we were about to enter the church, we laughed with so many friends and family, I danced all night, at at the end of it I got to go home with my husband. I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Four years later our lives might not be story book perfect, but they are perfect just as our wedding day was. We laugh at the not so perfect moments, stand by eachother during the tough ones and always give thanks that we can live this life together, as friends, as parents, and as partners.

Its been too long

I have been dancing ever since I could walk but I haven't been in the studio for about 7 years. Tonight I am going to take class for the first time since I was 18, and decided it was time to dust off my old dance bag. I have carried this bag around with me to 5 different homes (we moved every year in university) and in each home it has always had a special place tucked just inside my closet door patiently waiting to be brought to life again.


I tried on my old shoes tonight and they were a bit snug (I blame this on the babies) and was surprised when the second pair I tried fit like a glove. I checked inside to see what the make was and realized they weren't my shoes. I must have grabbed the wrong shoes at my last show but it was a nice feeling to look inside and see Jenna's name written there. It was almost as if the time and distance had done nothing to separate us. When I look at these old shoes each scuff, tare, and hole reminds me of a class, dance, show, fall, or friend. My dance family has been a constant in my life ever since I was 4 years old and the same holds true today. Even though we haven't taken class together in years there is still a bond between us that cannot be broken. We are going to take class together for the first time in 7 years and I am so excited to see every one. Over the years we have remained in contact on an individual basis but nothing like what happens when we are in a studio together.

**Edited to add: Ouch... my body feels as beaten up as my old shoes look. Remind me not to wait 7 years before taking class again - it just might kill me! I am going to go wither in pain until the girls wake up.

Is it too early to post about Christmas crafting?

I know its July and I should be thinking sun, warm weather, fresh foods... and I am. But I am also thinking about that poor little girl who has had a store bought "Baby's first Christmas" stocking for the past 2 Christmases! (In our family store bought stockings just don't happen). In my defence she was a month early and arrived 10 days before her first Christmas so there just wasn't really any time... and for her second Christmas - well she just turned 1 and I was 6 months pregnant and trying to sleep when I could. So this year she gets handmade.

I love the pattern, it is actually a lot like the stocking that my mom made for me 25 years ago. Mom and I are working on it together and it is so nice to spend the time with her doing it. So far this is all we have gotten done.

But that's ok, I still have a few months but if I want this to be a mostly handmade Christmas like I planned I need to get the ball rolling (or sewing machine going).

End of the season

This is my last jam post, I swear (at least until raspberries are in season)! Nick has recently decided that his new favourite kind of jam is strawberry (if its homemade) and I can't keep Baby C out of the stuff so I thought I better catch the tail end of the berry season and make just a bit more jam. So today mom and my 90 year old grandma sat with the girls as I sped away to the berry patch and got my hands on 2 flats, and then they even helped me to cut and wash said berries.

Baby C was stoked that she got to have a lunch of berries and crackers and Nick will be happy to come home to a few more jars on the cellar shelves!

What I love about fresh air

:: It calms even the fussiest of babies

:: It makes sisters "play" together nicely

:: The SMELL of that lovely field behind us

:: The baby sleep that it induces

I am enjoying the after effects of a few hours outside with the girls in the afternoon sun (and shade for baby). I can run away and have a few minutes to myself. What a JOY... I'll say it again - I love the fresh air!!!

52 Books :: Week 29 (Book 27)

I am loving Stitch 'N Bitch but I need something a little less technical as my eyes are starting to go buggey! I grabbed another one of Nicole's pics... The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart.

We be jammin'

Despite a somewhat slow start the jam was made... all 31 jars! (The jars on the bottom shelf are the strawberry rhubarb from a few weeks ago) I hope to have this cellar filled with local, fresh from the farm fruits and veggies by the end of the growing season. But for now we are enjoying strawberries and Bob Marley.

It is a terrible picture I know but I don't have the greatest lighting in the cellar. I was hoping to take a much prettier picture of the strawberry jam on a homemade banana muffin... but I am waiting for my neighbours to come home from camping to do so (because the muffins are supposed to be for them) and they are late! Oh well... soon enough there will be warm muffins with strawberry jam in our tummies (mostly Baby C's because she eats all my food anyway).

52 Books :: Week 29 (Book 26)

Surprisingly enough I do not know any knitters who would appreciate a 4am phone call for help (that seems to be the magic knitting time around here), so I have turned to Debbie Stoller and Stitch 'N Bitch.

A day to take pictures

It was such a beautiful day today the sun showed its face for the first time all week. Just in time for Baby S' 3 month pictures. I cannot believe she has only been here for 3 months, she fits so perfectly into our family I can hardly remeber a time without her. Here's to you my little Roo.

Mama can you hear me?

Of course the night that I have 3 flats of fresh from the farm berries sitting on the kitchen counter waiting to be made into jam, Baby C would decide to have a full on toddler meltdown about going to bed. She even tried to crawl out of her crib (note to self, go shopping for a big girl bed tomorrow!)... Oy.... I should have seen it coming because she was calling for me while she was in the bath (Nick didn't tell me and I couldn't hear her).



But I did manage to get 2 batches of jam made... and a whole fridge full of berries cut, washed and crushed just waiting to be 'jammed' tomorrow morning while grandma plays with the girls!

Summer Eats

My absolute favourite summer meal... Shish kabobs. I could eat them every day. I didn't have any zucchini in the fridge, but I'll make sure to have some on hand next time. I assemble and Nick does the barbecuing - and I don't mind when its 32+ degrees outside and the BBQ is in the sun!

They were delicious and looked just as good. I would have had a better picture except we ate them before I had time to get the camera out. Oops! I would say that's a fine testament to hubby's mad BBQ skills!

Birthday boy blues

We missed a birthday party on the weekend. A very important birthday - a 4th birthday! The last birthday before this little boy starts school. So we absolutely had to give him a gift to commemorate this special age. So only a blue backpack with hot wheel cars inside would do. I was going to make a string backpack but then I happened upon these fabulous cotton canvas backpacks made with sustainably harvested organic cotton ! And the best part is that they were on clearance and super affordable. So I bought up every last one (which was about 7). I wished I could have gotten more considering I have about 10 birthday parties for kiddies under 6 in the next year. But oh well, I'm happy with what I've got!


To make it a little more special I embroidered his initials on the front of the bag. How lucky is it that I had thread that matched the binding perfectly? It was just meant to be!

**Edited to Add: These backbacks were actually made with natural cotton canvas and non-toxic dies. I bought a sustainably harvested organic cotton tote bag the same day... and for some reason (probably due to sleep deprivation) I got myself confused while writing this post!

Handmade doll lovin'

I just entered a giveaway for a super cute Bamboletta doll. I would love to have one of their dolls - they are beautiful!

https://bamboletta.com/?p=918&cpage=9#comment-7394

52 Books :: Week 28 (Book 25)

The Gentle Art of Domesticity: Stitching, Baking, Nature, Art & the Comforts of Home by Jane Brocket has been sitting on my bookshelf since last fall. Not because I didn't want to read it but more because I didn't have the time to truly appreciate it while I read it. Now with 2 babies 1 1/2 and under I still don't have time, but I have decided that I just can't wait any longer to read it.