i'm a rebel

Well it isn't the Nikon I was dreaming about but then again, I never expected a DSLR either. So I'm over the moon about my Christmas present the Canon Rebel T2i. Not only is she lovely, she can wear all the lady parts from my old SLR since they are both from the same family. Yay!
I haven't had a chance to shoot anything fun but here's our 9 yr old tabby.

super quick centre piece

The craft stores are full of cardboard forms for Christmas so I picked up 3 last time I was in. Today I decided they would be the perfect center piece for our kitchen table. So I pulled out some old yarn I am sick of and my glue gun and 20 minutes later. 3 trees are sitting on my table. How easy is that!

i don't believe in scarfs

The wonderful woman behind the 'I don't believe in scarfs' pattern on Ravelry made a pretty cool hat & scarf for a man who believes himself too manly for scarfs and hats. Apparently my brother is among these manly men as he asked for this tuque for Christmas. Here's a sneak peak bro.. its done.

crochet off the cuff

Finally a willing model!I have tried several crochet patterns now and let me tell you, my batting average? Poor to be kind. So I've started making hats up as I go along and I'm finding it much more interesting and they seem to fit much better than the pattern ones. Here's the latest for E, it's made of Patons Classic Wool Roving in Royal blue.

hands and feet reindeer

Perhaps you remember doing these when you were in kindergarten? Well if you don't here's the details in all their glory.

Trace your hands and cut the shapes out. Its best to use brown card stock for this.

Then trace and cut out the shape of your shoe. Next glue or tape the hands behind the foot and add a red nose and eyes.

J's mini cupcakes

I'm taking these cupcakes to preschool in the morning. I kinda wish I was duty parent just to see them all sing Happy Birthday.

J's birthday is this weekend.

3 years old. I can't believe it's been three years since I had a baby.

Three years our family has been complete.

Now that J's three we no longer have a high chair, bibs, infant seat, rocker, crib, bouncer or exersaucer. No play-yard, wraps, slings, bottles and baby foods. We no longer buy diapers and change tiny sheets and blankets. Wow.

There is a part of me that wishes I could have these years forever. I can pick my kids up, cuddle them and fix all of their problems. I can surprise them with treats and new adventures every day. I am their favourite person and the one they call when they are upset. Their perspective on the world is endearing and beautiful. I already know how much I will miss these years.

On the other hand its a miracle to see them grow each day. To see the progression of a childs artwork, to see them think through complex problems. To see there reaction to new social norms. When I see my son tell a joke and laugh I am fascinated by his intelligence, his vocabulary and the energy, interest and dedication he has to learning new things everyday. When my daughter comes home from school speaking a new language I am stunned by the ease with which she picks this up.

I just need to soak in every minute. And a cupcake now and then to wash it down.

random lists

I love lists. I love Christmas lists. I love crossing things off lists. So lets make a list shall we?

1) Nikon D7000. Just look at it. I would like 2. Then I can take pictures of one with the other:D
2) Yarn bowls. It makes sense to me. But would I use it or just appreciate the beauty of the bowl?

3) Baalls. Never buy drier sheets again? Hell ya. These things look super good. And yes, I'd be happy to get that for Christmas.

4) A Kitchenaid mixer with the pasta rolling attachment. Scratch that, ALL the attachments. Again feel free to get me that for Christmas too.

5) A Dairy Cow or goat donation to Worldvision.Ca
Because it's not all about me. More on this in a post to come..

crochet, my second love

Well I suppose I should confirm my abilities with an actual project. It's not much mind you. And it's not my first crochet hat, but the other won't sit up right and I can't find a willing model under 2 years old so this hat will have to do.

granny squares are awesome

I love granny squares. I love all the great things you can do with them and I love making them. Here are but a few of my favs..

Granny Square throw pillow from Ravelry



Granny Square baby booties from Ravelry


Granny Squares Basket

I really need to make this basket. I'm lying awake at night thinking of all the storage possiblities..

talk about good timing!

As my knittingness hits its peek, well don't I just come across this! Now that I can combine my love of decorating with wool, I think I might be unstoppable! {evil laugh}

The wonderful Life Through The Lens blog posted this tutorial today.

by golly, I've got it!

I'm happy to report that Crocheting is not as evil as I have previously believed. We are now getting along well as you can see by the granny square in the corner! Yuppi!

a mangled yarn

Well I've gone and blown my own mind. I'm taking a crochet course. Of course I mean that literally. My mind is very close now to complete system overload. Knitting and crochet seemed at first to be best friends, but now I realize that they are really arch enemies and have been engaged in an age old battle. The cramps in my fingers, the awkwardness whenever I look at that crochet hook. It's clear I was meant for knitting but I'm fighting the battle anyways.
As if you needed any more proof of my knitting-ness, here are just a few of the things flying off my needles lately.

This hat can be found on Ravelry under Lyon Hat and has removable ear flaps.

I think I'll be making many a pair of these. Christmas is the perfect time to give great mittens. They can also be found on Ravelry under Bella Mittens.

the race to Christmas

I think E needs this alarm clock.

Now that Halloween is over the stores are filling with Christmas decorations and cards. It seems Christmas is already right around the corner. And I haven't bought a thing.

So today I started my web shopping. Heh heh heh.

If you need to shop for alarm clocks too you'd better head here right away..

halloween is almost here!

I love finding wonderful new ways to celebrate and decorate for Halloween. These Monster brownies from Amanda's Cookin' are a wonderful new addition to our festivities. Click Amanda's blog for the link.

cowl growl

I have been knocking out knitting projects all over lately. One of my latest is a cowl. Until this year I wasn't even familiar with what that was.. but now I've made one. And its super soft and comfy. I don't think I'll go back to wearing scarfs with the cowl around:)

fall colours

Since following NieNie. I've been inspired to go on a fall colours tour. We've taken our yearly trip to Mountain Apple Orchard, gone on nature walks in the woods and this year I decided to get out the crayons and do wax paper leaves with the leaf pattern that Vanessa Christenson uses in her Crayon & Wax paper leaf tutorial. Check it out here.
I haven't seen anyone do wax paper leaves since my mom did them with us as kids. It's been great to do them again and I'm already thinking of a few ideas for Christmas that use wax paper too.

chalkboard paint

Is there nothing chalkboard paint can't do? From the marvelous The Crafts Dept. A chalkboard paint change-able banner.

all done

I tried to make a pattern that fits 6-12 mths fit my 2.5 yr old. Did it fit? Meeeh, sort of. I love the idea of a brimmer hat though, so I'll be giving it another go. I also really enjoy the mocha & cranberry colour combo.

super brimmer skater boy hat

Can't. Stop. Knitting.

So many cute patterns out there on Ravelry. Have I mentioned how incredibly brilliant that website is?

Its a free community of knitters.

Sharing patterns.

Helping each other with problems.

Tips.

Selling wool to each other and documenting what wool works best for each project.

Links to every knitting blog, store, product and company.

I love them.

And I'm loving this hat that I'm working on.. pictures to follow..

This picture is from Ravelry and the pattern is by Emily Vanek.

and they're off!

I love Autumn.

I love the fall colours, the cool nights and green grass.

I love going to the apple orchard.

I love getting out the hot chocolate after dinner and having it outside because the mosquitoes are gone.

But of all my favourite fall stuff. I love the return to school. Starting this week I will have 4 hours to myself.

Each. And. Every. Week. Until June.

WOOHOO!

I found these wonderful back to school signs at Blonde Designs Blog

mits for me

I love my new mittens. Really, really love them. The pattern was so well written, easy to follow and the fit is perfect. You can get this pattern for free at sublinialrabbit.
Believe it or not, I'm actually looking forward to winter just so I can try them out.

paper and such

I originally happened upon Paper Source because of the wonderful paper suitcases and calendars they carry.. but that is not all.. no that is not all. As you can see above, they have the most amusing selection of childrens toys and all sorts of fabulous finds that will help make gift giving fun. Happy shopping.

fairy garden party

Fairy Garden Cupcakes with butter cream icing, fondant flowers and butterflies

Greetings!
You are invited to a special gathering of fairies to help E celebrate her 5th birthday! The games and festivities will be held at Saunders Farm on [insert address here] From 11am till 1:30pm on [insert date here]. Please RSVP the head gardener [insert name here] at 555-555-1111 or by email [insert here]. We really hope you can make it!
A copy of the invite sent out this year

As you can imagine I was quite happy E consented to a Fairy Garden Party instead of the indoor gym. It was a perfect day for the farm and the kids had a great time.

As each guest arrived they received wings and a wand. They played for quite a while in a barn type play structure before heading off on a wagon ride, and when they returned they were greeted by their Garden Fairy Host.


She led them to a very charming party room to have pizza and cupcakes. The kids were also quite happy to get a visit by the resident kittens and everyone got to pat Hocus before we headed off to find the pirate park and the 'big' slide.

Inside the Garden Fairy Party room

After sliding and playing at the park we retired to the ice cream stand and from there all the little fairies returned home.

I was pretty happy with how my Garden Cupcakes turned out and they were pretty tasty too. I made white and chocolate cupcakes and bought a Wilton icing tip that created the 'grass' look with green butter cream icing, then I made butterflies and flowers from coloured fondant and layered the flowers for fun!

We gave out giant lollipops as loot as I am trying to reduce our carbon footprint and I find most loot bags full of BPA filled plastics and single use toys that go straight to the landfill.

I can't believe my baby is 5 years old! It's been an amazing five years and I want to cram as much fun in as I can before she heads back to school in a few weeks!

harvest

We had a small garden this year, so the kids could learn about the growing of food.

We have several herbs, the carrots I posted a while back, some peppers and lots and lots of tomatoes. It was really fun and we hope to make the garden even bigger next year and grow zuchini, cucumbers, potatoes and loads of peppers. Here's a shot of our cherry tomatoes.

hat for J

Of course it needed to be robots for the little man. I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out. I only wish the pattern were a little smaller. This hat will fit him in about 2 years. Sigh.

spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

These cupcakes are decidedly the best cupcakes that have come out of my kitchen thus far. The cream cheese frosting was, (yes was, they are all long gone) not too sweet and very light so it complemented the spice cake cupcakes perfectly.

The recipe is so simple too!

1/4 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup icing sugar

Use mixer on medium till smooth. Yum!

remember me?

Its been a jam-packed fun and busy month. Which is why we haven't spoken. Sorry about that.

Getting back into the swing of things probably won't happen till school begins in a few weeks but here is a 'back-to-school' idea that I'm loving.

The always wonderful and incredibly organized Wendy of Wendolonia has planned all your lunches, recommends lunch boxes and provides examples of great packed lunches. If you check her out you are bound to love her as much as I do.

rainbow crayons

What's this you ask? Remember the recycled crayon craft I mentioned back in February? Well, we finally tried it here at home. It's a great way to make use of all those little crayon nubs at the bottom of the Rubbermaid container that my kids use for their crayons.
After a little time in the oven.. you have brand new super cool rainbow crayons! Instructions below.

1# Remove any paper left on old crayon nubs

2# Using an oven safe mini muffin tin add crayon bits until about 3/4 full.

3# Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

4# Place tin in center of oven for approximately 10 minutes, watching constantly. You do not want melted crayon mixture to bubble.

5# Once completely melted, remove VERY carefully from oven and let sit for several minutes until set.

I put the now warmish tin into the freezer and the crayons just fell out of the tin a few hours later. Then you have awesome rainbow coloured crayons just like these. Happy crayon making!

sweet sweet avoidance

The laundry is piling up. That light bulb in the kitchen has been burnt out for a month. The lawn is full of weeds and the cupboards and closets are all looking pretty shabby, not to mention the basement we haven't even dared to look at since the 6 family play date we had here a few weeks back.

I am off my game. My usual vacuuming, laundry, dishes and tidying routine is gone. I've got two children at home and its summer. So we are making the most of it, but my house is really looking forward to September. Here's some of the fun.

Having fun at the Childrens Museum

Berry picking at Dekok Berry Farm

Saying Hello to Cookie Monster, Elmo & Zoey on our visit to Ontario Place

Many, many trips to the park

Riding lessons with the very special, Special the Horse.

There are so many more wonderful things we've done and so many more to do. I hope you are enjoying your summer too.