Falling in love with the season

Yesterday was a beautifully charming, wet, cold fall day. Baby C and I went to the old house one last time and snapped up all the fall goodness.

Home is where the heart is

This will be a bittersweet weekend. I am so excited to be helping mom and dad move into their new home but also sad that my childhood home will no longer be "mine". The home I grew up in was a small, old bungalow, but it was situated on a fabulously beautiful yard. Just this spring we had a photo shoot with dad, Nick and Baby C under the crab apples trees when they were full of pink blooms - fabulous. The house itself required a lot of work from mom and dad (as an example the cinder block basement was used by the old owners to grow potatoes - seriously - so mom and dad spent the first few days literally taking truck loads of dirt out of the basement) but no matter how much they did there was always something left for them to do. So today they are the proud owners of a custom built home. They are trading the property for the home. After 21 years dad is ready to have his weekends back from yard work and spend some time playing with grandchildren. I am sad to let the old home go, but I am excited for mom and dad that they will finally have a real basement, a bathtub (mom hasn't had an actual bath for 21 years!) and a home that they can settle into and relax for the first time in their married lives!

crisp... clean.... it must be fall!

Today marks my absolute favourite time of the year, it is the first day of fall. I find something magical about the change to fall, more so than all the other seasons. There is something awe inspiring about watching the maples turn red, orange and yellow, crunching through the leaves and taking a walk on a sunny afternoon that is just crisp enough to be completely refreshing. There aren't a whole lot of fall colours yet, but I know they are coming and Baby C and I will be out walking and looking for them in the weeks to come. I can't wait to see her face the first time she crushes a leaf in her tiny palm.


And as a perfect way to spend a first fall day, Grandma is coming over to teach me her secret tea biscuit recipe. Its not that it is incredibly grand or complicated but it is a family favourite. I admire her so much, at 89 she is still out and about and can whip up an apple pie or a batch of biscuits on a moment's notice. I am honoured to spend the afternoon in the kitchen with her and Baby C , 3 generations of Speers women... Here's to a fabulous day!

Stressful week and no time for stress relieving activities...

What a week, I am glad that its over! It has literally been one thing after another... the most life threatening... finding out that when my car was repaired the mechanics decided to take out my headlights (why???) and not put them back. I only realized this after I pulled onto a street last night that had no street lights... Hey - where'd the road go? Luckily mom was driving behind me and she kindly guided me to the safety of my driveway going about 40 km/hr. Woosh - dodged a bullet there!

On the way to have them fixed today Baby C got into a mad chewing fit in the back seat and choked herself to the point that she puked all over the car and was heaving so bad she couldn't breath. Ask me how fast I pulled off the road, got that 9 month old beauty out of her seat, tossed her upside down and did the Heimlich. Woosh - another bullet.

All I want to do this weekend is sit down and do some good old fashioned crafting... but I have a mommy day/play date to get ready for tomorrow and a birthday party tomorrow night. Looks like staining the deck and baking birthday cake and making icing from scratch will have to do.

Not a complete failure... but not a complete success

Well... my dreams of getting things done last week were dashed when I realized that I had a tonne of baking to do for work and only 1 night to do it.... So I abandoned the half organized office and cut and pinned Baby C curtains (but didn't get around to sewing them) and put on my apron. Out came a double batch of chocolate walnut brownies, oatmeal cookies and chocolate chip cookies. They were an absolute hit (and I can attest to their fabulous taste since I ate twice as many as I sold). So, while I didn't get the things done that I planned, or hoped to do, I still had a very delicious weekend and Nick and my family appreciated all my hard work as they ate the left overs.

Just like her daddy

This is our little Rock Star in training. At least if she wants to be a drummer she can play daddy's electrics! Doesn't she just melt your heart? She melts mine! We had a wonderful weekend of loving, familying it up and playing.

a little less than...

I have been feeling a little less than inspired these days. I have fabric that needs washing, and cutting, and sewing, a baby blanket that needs finishing, and a house that needs unpacking (on the surface we look unpacked, but we most certainly are NOT unpacked as this lovely and frightening photo of my office shows). Today I'm looking for the motivation to get off my butt and get at least one thing done.