sweet thing(s)

why I haven't been blogging lately....

Who knew how much work a puppy is? Not me! xxx

 

happy spring!

 

okay, so i have abondoned my blog-every-day-in-March effort due to our new family member, Emmy Lou (see previous post)  She is SO MUCH MORE WORK THAN I COULD HAVE IMAGINED!!!  i think having a puppy is sort of like childbirth- you can't imagine what it's like to go through until you actually experience it!

BUT!  i wanted to say happy spring! to you all.  

we have had some glorious weather the last few days- my face is a bit sunburned- and it feels great.  (at least in the short term- the last 3 days have been record breaking high temperatures in Toronto- which is sort of spooky when you think about it)

tonight we are heading out to our annual spring equinox bonfire- more on that tomorrow!

introducing....EmmyLou!

 

we got a puppy yesterday!!
her name is EmmyLou and she is an 8 week old miniature Australian Shepherd.

she is so super sweet.  i thought i was busy before she came... :)

did i tell you we painted our living room?

i have been meaning to post this awesome change since the fall when we did it...

our living room (which basically means the whole house) has been a gorgeous golden ochre colour since we moved in in 1999.  And the living room before that was the same colour.  Sort of a Van Gogh wheat field colour.  i was getting pretty sick of it.

for a few years i have been wanting to paint and have been looking for the perfect green.  We found it in Benjamin Moore's Jalepeno Pepper.  

so here it is:

(with these photos you get a little taste of 'corners of my home'- do you remember that meme on the domesticity-crafty blogs? it was so nice.  i always wanted to do it but my corners are too dirty...)

(this photo is using the Hipstamatic app on Asa's ipod.  i love how everything looks so funky)

the day after my man finished painting he was in the city and he saw this street car go by:

paint the town GREEN!  it is my favourite colour....

goose loops

goose loops: an original Asa creation

they now live on top of my computer and make me smile when i look at them and think of my quirky creative boy

my boy is 11

from this little guy

to this big one

faster than i would have thought possible

Lee:

you are growing into a fantastic young man.  Even though I can't take (too much!) credit for what a great kid you are, when I see you out in the world i feel we are doing something right.  i thought I would be sad as you left babyhood- but i love having an older child.  Dad and I are so lucky to have you, our eccentric roommate.  

 

PS--for Lee's birthday party with his friends, i couldn't resist making him something fun- I made these cake pops

i am embarrassed to tell you how long it took me, and how many batches of white chocolate i ruined trying to melt and dip them before giving up and dipping them in icing sugar frosting... hats off to those bakers who make those perfect looking cake pops!!  they are harder than they look!

monkey boy!! (or "some stuff i made part 2"- or "from the holidays part 3")

you might remember this monster suit from a few years ago?  (he looks so little!!) well, it's finally too small.

so I thought monkey boy needed a new under-the-radar costume (i.e. he can wear it to school without being "IN A COSTUME")  It even has a snap-on detachable tail!

(photo shoot at the St. Lawrence Market!) 

and I have to share this video- a perfect job for grown-up Asa!!!

it is really funny- it has one swear (the B word) in it but otherwise child friendly (well, if you don't mind hot half-naked men- but in a good way)  and the kids LOVE IT!!

some stuff i made (Part 2: from the holidays)

we were feeding a neighbour's cats over the holidays- I had the brilliant idea (pat pat) to set up all my sewing stuff over there so I could work on my Christmas sewing.  It was so great!  I didn't have to worry about curious children or leaving a mess out- just work and then walk away leaving it all set up.  must be what it's like to have a spacious studio...

aside from the Christmas jammies and bathrobe, 

i made:

a dog coat for my mom's dog (Butterick 4885)

i learned that dogs are even harder to photograph than children

 

i also sewed matching dresses for Maxine and her new dolly

this (sort of dark) picture is the only one I have as Maxine tried it on only the once: unfortunately as a pattern for Maxine's dress I used one of her dresses that is basically too small and I hadn't realized it.  so that is a shame unless I can get some more fabric.  it was from Joann's and it's this super cute owl print corduroy:

:: hint hint to Auntie Mar who was going to look for some in Seattle for me! :)

Maxine's new dolly is a Canadian girl (well, they're actually Maplea Girls but the are the equivalent of the you know-who-dolls in the USA).  

she LOVES HER!!!!!  

her name is Saila and she is from Nunavit. (The girls are all from different provinces)  Max also got a bunch of clothes for 'her girl' (she calls her 'my girl'!) and spends hours daily dressing and undressing her, and making up stories about her.  I enjoy brushing her hair.  (someone else in the family also enjoys braiding her hair but he won't let me say who.)  and i have to say I'm looking forward to making more clothes.

someone asked me, under his breath, 'live vicariously much?' and this may be completely true, but who cares?

the Island: winter beach days

Happy New Year!

my lovely sister-in-law and new brother-in-law got married on New Year's Eve in a magical small ceremony at a wonderful downtown restaurant.  

best new year's ever!!

merry christmas!

we had a fantastic day and hope you did too!

(the kids are wearing their Christmas jammies- Lee is such a big boy this year he got a bathrobe!)

xmas crafts will be posted soon....

sand candles

Lee is representing this year at the Island Christmas Boutique.  he made some "Ward's Island Beach Candles."  

Our neighbour gave us a bag of old half-used candles and we melted them down, added some crayons for colour, and poured them into our sand and rock molds.  (the wax has to be hotter than usual to stick to the sand a bit- this is not a bad tutorial)

When I was a kid (Lee's age actually) I went through a phase of being obsessed with candlemaking.  I remember making sand candles, ice cube candles (also fun!), using crayons to colour them, and setting a pan of wax on fire.  whoops!

These candles were a lot of fun-  I'd like to try to make some with beeswax.  

the season has begun

i love Christmas, but i love it to start about a week before the actual big day- no sooner.  

my one exception is advent calendars.  i find it helps kids who are WAITING so patiently for Christmas when they have a little tiny thing to open every day.  in the past we have always gotten the Playmobil or Lego ones.  This year we got Asa the  Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar - i couldn't resist.  He is such a fan.  I didn't see anything especially nice for Maxine, so Lee and I had fun wrapping a bunch of little prezzies and hanging them on ribbons.

the cat likes them too.

As Lee and I were working, he said, "Mama- I bet you have an advent calendar for me too.  You just want to surprise me!"  Ugg.  No I didn't!  At 10, he's at that in between age- too old for most toy presents, but young enough to care if he's not getting them.  A promise of a movie date with me or his dad before xmas solved the problem...

The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair

I love this annual event!  

I've written about it here so many times, and it's really not very different from year-to-year, that i almost didn't write about it again.  BUT someone got a new iPod Touch (not me- Asa!  Can you believe?  my 7 y-o has fancier gadgets than his parents...) and I finally got to try Hipstamatic (i know- so 2009) so suddenly the Royal Winter Fair photos seemed different from the last 4 years of posts.  

(I love how the Hipstamatic app makes everything look so soft and painterly!)  

(Also, I had to laugh when i re-read one of the posts above that said we had cereal and fried eggs for dinner- guess what we had tonight?)

just a little bit more about Halloween

our Island community had a pumpkin carving party on Saturday

Lee and Asa made Jack-O-Lanterns 100% by themselves and I helped Maxine (she drew the design, I carved)

What was interesting to me was how completely each pumpkin said something about each child's personality:

Maxine's (far left) is all about the eyeballs.  People with defined eyeballs are what she loves to draw lately.  Plus her pumpkin is just really cute.

Lee's pumpkin (middle) is quirky just like him.

Asa's abstract Jack-O-Lantern (far right) is slightly perverse and different from everyone else's (notice the knife stuck in the side)

I don't want to put the children into little boxes by analyzing them this way-  I just love how each child shines through in his/her creative expression!

Happy Halloween!!

to you from my Steampunk Bandit, Zombie Princess (such an improvement on the typical 4 y.o. girl princess theme obsession, don't you think?) and Griffin (mythical half-lion and half-eagle).  as usual, ridiculous amounts of time were spent by both parents on costume making but, also as usual, it was worth it for the kids!  (i am especially pleased with the griffin mask fashioned out of plaster cast material and wire- you can click on the photo to see it bigger!) 

half-marathon!

here i am

happily running to the finish line of my second half-marathon on Sunday (my first was a year ago)

i hope to be back blogging soon...

first day(s) of school

Tuesday, last week:  Asa about to head off for his first day of Grade 2 and Lee staying home for his first day of Grade 5.  yes, we are homeschooling again!  (just Lee)  Maxine is still in her jammies because her first day of kindergarten !! was later in the week due to a staggered entry.

Thursday, last week:  Maxine's first day of junior kindergarten!!!  Don't let her serious expression fool you.  This kid was EXCITED for school to start!!  

(i got to go with her on the first day- so much fun!!  is this not the classic kindergarten shot?)

she loves it- and I'm not surprised as she is an insanely social creature.   every day she wakes up asking "Is it school today Mama?"  (she goes 2.5 days a week so unfortunately she is disappointed more often than not...)

big kids and big changes.

love and garlic

let's pretend i posted this in mid- August, okay?  that's what i meant to do...

the love part: my man and I met 20 years ago this summer at the Bread and Puppet Theatre festival.   (we've been together half our lives!)  

(image via Bread and Puppet website)

 

(crappy image via me 20 years ago!!  the rest are various photos i found elsewhere- all kosher i believe!)

Bread and Puppet are a theatre group/community in Vermont known for their giant puppets and their political message.

(image via this blog- a nice post describing what shows are like now)

I grew up going to Bread and Puppet every summer of the 1970s and 80s with my family.  New York transplants from way back,  Peter and Elke Schumann and their family have a year round farm/art/theatre community and museum in the very rural Northeast Kingdom in Vermont.  

you may have seen their puppets at marches, or recognize their influence in the work of JulieTaymor- a B&P protege. 

one of their philosophies is Cheap Art:

 

here's some nice cheap art. 

image via  More on the art here 

for many years on one weekend in August, the Schumanns, their people, and the town of Glover, VT would host a free 2 day festival.  (in 1998 they stopped the weekend event- it had gotten too large and unruly)  The day started with the Domestic Resurrection Circus.  

image via Bread and Puppet website

The audience sits around on the grass in a natural amphitheatre, and the B&P bus pulls in with most of the company sitting on top- dressed in white, waving large flags with prints of every day objects and and words underneath- "Brother Frying Pan," "Sister Toothbrush."  A band accompanied the performers- and always Uncle Sam on sky high stilts and silly 'animal' (people in animal costumes) routines.  (here's a good video of a recent Circus performance)  

image via flickr

At dusk, there was the Pageant.  Silent and serious- the audience would wait as performers would appear from over the hills with bird puppets.  The theme was always serious and something always got burned at the end.  (our Island Fire Parade organizers are Bread and Puppet alums- small world!- and we always burn something at the end of the Fire Parade.)

 

image via Bread and Puppet website

image via Chazz

i haven't gone back since they stopped doing the weekend festival- but i think we must next year.

and the garlic? it's puppets- and BREAD.  a delicious part of the  Bread and Puppet experience is the FREE hearty fresh baked bread with a raw garlic spread.   my man and i met in the queue for bread-- love and bliss ever since!! :)

i've been growing garlic in my little garden.  

i love to eat it spread on bread with oil, salt and pepper.   I don't know what exactly they put in it at Bread and Puppet, but i find that my version reminds me of those days.  

so- Love and Garlic- two of the best things I have going for me.  i raise my garlic bread to you my man.

the Island: hooping and stilting

**as the school year starts, and we settle in from our summer travels, i am trying to get myself organized again- including returning to this space.  So, hi!!  I wrote this post a month ago but here it is now.  A taste of summer as the air is getting cooler!

with Shadowland

the director of this Island theatre group leads a year round weekly session for kids 10 and up- "Island young people participate in weekly theatre sessions in acting, improvisation, stiltwalking, acrobatics, video making and music"  How cool is that?

(if you are in Toronto, there is a show coming up on the Island- Hansel and Gretel- sadly we will miss it) **I heard it was fantastic!

In the summer it's outdoors and mainly stiltwalking.  maybe my boy will take after his uncle

Vermont

our two week trip to Vermont is coming to a close.  we spent a week at a lake house with the whole extended family (mom, stepmom, dad, stepdad, sister, me, the kids, and 4 dogs)  Then a few 'city' days with my dad and a few 'country' days with my mom.

some highlights:

:: canoeing and paddleboating on the lake

:: lots of delicious food including fresh corn almost every night!

:: dogs, dogs, and more dogs

:: grandparents x 4, auntie x 1

:: lakeside deck for relaxing, eating and watching sunsets

:: popsicles, ice cream, freezies, frozen yogurt tubes

:: the best lake beach i've ever seen

:: the Shelburne Museum, especially an amazing miniatures collection

:: starting to train for another 1/2 marathon!

:: The Smurfs and Winnie The Pooh, The Help

:: back-to-school and not-back-to-school shopping

:: going through all my boxes of old momentos and photos from the first 21 years of my life

:: throwing out most of it, bringing home one meaningful box

:: an amazing Thai massage (thanks Mom!  and Carrie!!)

:: my mom's lovely country pond and acreage

:: 'camping' with Nana on said acreage

:: reading in the hammock for two blissful hours (thanks again Mom!)

:: roasting marshmallows

:: great splashes in clear blue cold water

all in all- a lovely time!  i'm exhausted...  :)

before we went away...

we're in Vermont right now visiting my folks!

BUT before we went away....

:: lots of beach time

:: my eldest went on his first solo trip!!! to visit his Indiana grandparents (here he is when we picked him up at the airport)

:: and of course lots of trips to Centreville!

next post: from vermont!

my boy can bake 2- the sequel!

Lee baked his favourite dessert to celebrate the last day of school.  

here he is with his Chocolate Pavlova.  

he made it 95% by himself and it was very delicious.   the meringue took 3 tries: #1 was spoiled by Maxine pouring in salt when he had his back turned- luckily he caught her!  #2 he left out an important ingredient (the brown sugar!)  #3 was the charm.

i love that he loves to bake!

i'm back from Indiana

fishing with BuppaNa

did you miss me?

i had a flurry of activity in this space as I took advantage of the last day or two with no kids at home, then- nothing!  school ended and we packed up and drove to Indiana to visit the grandparents.

we had a great visit!  we did the usual (Children's Museum, swimming, Zoo, hanging at the grandparents very comfortable house, fireworks, fishing, extended family July 4th BBQ, yummy food and drink, USA shopping, and lots of nice social time- see last year's post for photos!  I hardly took any this year.  I guess i was out of 'real life' too much).  it's a long drive both ways, but the kids are great little travelers and it's worth it for the visit.

we got back a few days ago- i'm unpacked, and mostly settled.  the kids are settling in too.  i noticed some real growing pains for the first few days after we got back.  since we went straight to Indiana, the first real days of summer 'nothing' were this week.  after a few days of squabbling and purposeful oppositionality (as in 'The other 2 want to do X? Well, I want to do Y!) i think we've hit our stride.  

stay tuned...

a dress for the teacher's daughter

today is the second to last day of school- and my last day on my own for the foreseeable future. during the school year Maxine has been going to a neighbour's home day care two days a week. (she LOVES it)  And of course the boys have been at school.  while I am looking forward to lovely kid days this summer I have relished my home alone days.  I love the silence (or the radio) with no one asking things of me or looking over my shoulder.  on these days I ran, read a bit, crafted/sewed a bit, worked on my blog, and did quite a lot of my domestic duties.

today, i sewed!

we contributed to the class gift for Lee's teacher, but I have so appreciated her and all her hard work and the experience Lee has had this year that i wanted to do something a bit more.  I sewed her little daughter this dress:

it was made from a frumpy dress i picked up at the Goodwill in Florida- the fabric was so pretty I knew I could make something else out of it.  (from the same dress I also made myself an experimental summer top.  it still needs work- if i can make it turn out okay I'll share it here at some point)  For both items i used fold over elastic (FOE) for the first time.  it was really fun to use!  I first read about it on Angry Chicken's blog- she has a great tutorial here with links to some projects she's used it for.  i used the existing yoke of the dress and its buttons, and used FOE to bring the neckline down to size and gather up the arm edges as well.  i used the ruffling foot on my serger (LOVE it, btw) to make the bottom ruffle.

i hope they like it!  (and thanks Ms. Z if you ever see this!)