mardi gras

Last night before Lent... dance party of course.

food, part ii

And now it's actually David's birthday! So we whooped it up by having big meals and inviting people to eat those big meals. Also notable: Clara was excited about the tissue paper around the presents because "we can blow our noses," I tried making a sweater for David with terrible results, and we ate butter and garlic with some shrimp added. Oh, and David turned another year older, another year wiser. We are so lucky to have him. Happy Birthday, David... we love you!

food

It's David's birthday eve, so let's celebrate! We took him to a family concert put on by the Oakville Symphony, because he's cultured and likes things like that, and then went to eat at Mo's, where the portions are as big as your face, because he's hungry and he also likes things like that.

Here are pictures of our faces and big plates and empty plates (it's mine; it was a schnitzel and I destroyed it. Thank you).

done

She finally napped.

danie

outdoor kantors

Family Day Weekend + 15 degrees outside = this...

free as a bird. Seven birds, in our case.

happy valentine's day

To Clara, from the flower lady at Costco.

And to everyone else, from these ladies.

beddy bye

It's Monday night and David's at basketball and the kids are waiting for me to get Janie down to sleep. That's usually chaotic. But not tonight.

it's snowtime

We've had a pretty brown winter so what a treat this weekend to have a couple days of fluffy snow. We played. We built. We snowballed. And then we hot chocolated. Thanks, Winter.

janie the camel

Doesn't Janie look like she's the four legs of the camel? Because that's the creative brilliance I was going for.

So now Jane is ten months. She has six teeth, she is a very fast crawler, she's trying to stand up, she can say dadada and mamama, and she eats all sorts of things (paper and small toys, mostly). This month I won't mention that she's still not napping.

intruder

Imagine the terror.

teamwork

Once upon a time (four weeks ago), Annie and I set forth on an epic adventure (sewing). We (I) volunteered us to be pattern testers for a twirly garment (a skirt) that we could create together (mostly me). And it was fun (really, it was). And we did work together... I mean, I did most of the sewing but Annie helped pick the fabric, and cut some of it with me, even sewed a few side seams, and, most importantly, kept me company while I did the rest. It's very helpful to have someone sitting directly at your elbow, chatting right into your ear, while you sew (not recommended for everyone).

Anyway, we made, we took pictures, we sent in our review of the pattern, and - voila - the result.

All of this was for Sherri, at Thread Riding Hood. She created this Fat Quarter Skirt pattern, which is (1) fun, (2) quick, (3) perfect-for-beginners, and (4) has a lot of potential for new ideas as you get more confident and creative in your sewing (like pockets, and detailing, and, I don't know, maybe glitter). Sherri loves to sew and create, and her blog is not only a great read but filled with lots of good, useful, fun projects, sewing tips, and funny stories. She's a Canadian gal and she has lots of links to awesome Canadian fabric stores, too (go, Canada!).

Sherri posted her pattern here: http://www.threadridinghood.com/wordpress/fat-quarter-skirt-pdf-pattern/
And here is her post about the pattern testers (look for Annie in her cowboy skirt, near the end of the post!): http://www.threadridinghood.com/wordpress/fat-quarter-skirt-tester-photos/

Moral of the story: sewing is great. I already knew that, but now Annie knows it, too. Because she got to do a project AND wear something out of it at the end AND that something twirls. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

spiffy

Hello - my name is Henry and I'm a handsome guy.

hair-doing

Annie doesn't cut hair any more, but she does like accessorizing.