Easter and the Like

The rest of our Easter Weekend was more peaceful than the start. Saturday I spent the day (and late into the night) stitching up some Easter Basket softies. In order to be somewhat awake on Sunday, they remained faceless until Sunday afternoon.

Here they are ready to be found in the morning, in the baskets I made last year . And here they are today, fully embroidered and embellished:

The ninjas are from a Melly and Me Pattern, "Little Ninjas". They would have been really fast to sew if I hadn't sewn their head bands wrong three times. Sometimes when you are used to making things up yourself, it is harder to follow a pattern than it really should be. The kitty is from the original Wee Wonderfuls Put Together Book, by Hillary Liang. She was also a quick, fun sew. Eventually I might make a pair of felt Mary Janes for her, but for now she's bare foot.

In other exciting news, I received the rest of my blocks from Melissa, my partner in sarah and molly's free peicing study, today. Neither of us finished all the blocks, but since they were supposed to be done in November or so, I emailed Melissa and asked if we could just call it done. She agreed that she was kind of burnt out on making the blocks too, although they were fun, and we are just sending each other what we have done. I think my blocks are hers are lovely together. I left my blocks all odd sizes so I could fill in bits and pieces in the colours I needed to. I think I will also make a "Mel" block, just so both our names appear on the quilt. But I love the bright, fun look of all the blocks together, and I think this will be a fun project to stitch together in the fall sometime (when baby is bigger and I have two boys in school).

In family news, it appears that Emma has picked up her mother's creative layering style. This is how she went to church on Easter Sunday. No cute little poofy dresses (or even cream tights to tone things down a little) for this girl:

On Monday, Dave bought Aaron a bunch of these little ATV's that you pull back to wind and then let go. They have been a huge hit, and we've spent a lot of time racing them across the living room floor in the last few days. Andrew won our first after-supper-series, and he was sorely disappointed when we told him that the prize for winning was that you got to be the winner and take a bath. So he build some trophies, which the boys took turns modelling the next night:

I love this shot. Its another one for the mini-pops indy band cd cover series.

A Different Good Friday Than Expected

Today was a little bit of a different day than expected. Not because of a new baby, no. Because we had a plan for a family outing. There is a joint ANiC Good Friday service in the town of Lennoxville on the South Shore (of the St. Lawrence River - we are on an island in the middle of the river). Because it is an hour's drive and it starts at 5, we decided that we needed a plan.

So instead of leaving at 3:30 or 4, we decided to leave around one, find a park, play for a while, find a McDonalds as a special treat for supper, then go to the service with kids who would be pretty mellow and not hyper and cranky after an hour long car ride.

Well, first of all, we started out in the wrong direction. Then, when Dave got off the highway to get turned around in Lachine, the car started vibrating. Dave stopped to see what was wrong with the tire, and couldn't see a problem. Then 2 min. down the road, the car stopped moving. The axle was broken. So we weren't driving to Lennoxville after all.

Instead we had a completely different kind of adventure. One involving a tow truck. And kids riding in the back of a taxi. Then realizing that Dad had the keys with him, in the tow truck, on his way to Canadian Tire. And breaking into our own house through the kitchen window (no, I didn't climb in myself, I boosted Andrew - I have my limits when I'm 9 mos pregnant).
Well, climbing through the window was so cool and exciting that everyone needed a turn. Aaron followed Andrew. Andrew unlocked the door and Emma and I went in. And Emma and I had a discussion that went something like this:

"Car wheel broke!"
"Yes, that's right, the tire broke on the car and we had to stop. The tow truck came to carry our car away to get fixed."
"High up."
"Yes, the tow truck was lifting our car up very high."
"No Macdonalds."
"Nope, instead we came home in a taxi."
"Window."
"Yes, we climbed through the window."
"Emma's turn."
"You wanted a turn climbing through the window?"
"Yeah."
So, we put a chair by the window on the inside, went outside and opened it up again, and I boosted Emma in through the window.

A lot of people say they feel sorry for Emma, as she is the only girl in our family. It seems to me sometimes that she gets the best of both worlds. All the cute clothes and softies and doll quilts to herself. Plus all the rough and tumble play she could want. Even climbing through the window to do her part in rescuing us.

The Waiting Game Begins!

These photos are from last Monday when we still had snow. A week later and 5 days of freakishly warm weather means our yard is now full of mud, not snow and ice. And now its back to "regular" March weather.

One month to my due date has come and gone, and spring has sprung in Montreal. While my kids finally get to go outside and enjoy their sandbox, their fort and - soon - their bikes, I am increasingly finding myself inside, sorting and organizing and, mostly, resting.

I feel like the new life in me is a little like my kids in the sandbox these days. They are re-discovering all the joys - wind, sunshine, excercise - and pains - skinned knees, wet mittens, and dirty hands - of the outside world. And I am remembering, and about to rediscover all the joys and pains of that early, intense stage of motherhood that is caring for a newborn.

In the meantime, there is little I can do but wait, prepare, and distract myself from the inevitable change to come. Work is almost finished. Baby clothes are being sorted, emergency bags packed, and the last few re-organization tasks are planned or completed. And then there is just the slow, measured wait. Trying not to panic. Trying to keep busy and distracted while simultaneously doing a lot of nothing but resting and staying calm. Keeping our household operating, while realizing that our rhythm is about to change, and accepting that things are just not getting done as my energy and stamina wanes. Life is slowly, inevitably, briefly, turning inward.

Stage Two of Nesting Complete - Paint!

As I mentioned on Monday, I have been in that particular stage of pregnancy insanity where you must throw your entire household into upheaval and get everything ready for the baby. I beleive with Emma we got new wardrobes and I sewed everything in sight - wipes, change pads, baskets, wall organizers, quilts . . . I was a mad sewing demon. This time it appears to be painting and re-organizing.

I think I might have mentioned that we are switching all the bedrooms around. Since we were moving all the furniture anyway, and two of the bedrooms did not get painted when we moved in, and the third has been liberally sprinkled with Aaron's idea of wall art, I decided that there was no time like the present to paint. My long suffering husband agreed to wash walls and move furniture and peel tape, and gave me free reign to choose colours and paint walls.

Since I finished these rooms it has been snowing, and there is only pale, filtered light to see the new colours in, but I had to show them off in any case because I love them. When we were in Saskatchewan, I was always trying to pick paint colours that would liven things up and make our space more stimulating. In Montreal, I find that I am chosing colours that feel calm and happy as a foil to all the chaos and crowding (not to mention all that red brick).

Our room, formerly the boys' room, is at the front of the house, facing the street. It is this lovely moss-y, pine-y green. Dave and I both love it, and it feels so soothing to be in this room now.

And look, I even sort of made the bed for you (the duvet cover is in the laundry right now, and what with all the painting, the laundry is sadly neglected, so pardon all that white. I think I'm going to finally pull out my Freshcut fabric and make a wall quilt and possibly a bed quilt with it. And the fact that it has been re-issued and I could get more of a few prints I was missing or had used for other things helps, too.

Emma's room (formerly our shared room) was a neutral-y white colour with lots of handprints and wall art fromt he previous owner's kids. Yuk. Frankly, it has been driving me crazy for the last year and a half, and I have been itching to paint it, so I was happy to finally get the chance.

This room has no windows, just a sliding door joining it to the boys' room and the main door leading to the living room. It is pretty dark, and when I started applying this yellow-green paint I discovered that part of the reason for its sad, cavern-like feeling was that the former owners had painted it a neutral with a purple undertone. I totally do not get why you would put a cool, dark undertone in the paint of a dark room. In any case, this meant I had to add a second coat of paint, since there was this strange pink glow emmanating through the seemingly flourecent yellow at the end of my first coat.

The end result is a pretty, soft green that will be great to match with pink for now, but will have staying power for when Emma moves on from the pink thing. There was nothing in this roome except a giant, ugly, cheap Ikea wardrobe when I went to take this picture, so I thought I would show off the baby bump. Because this room has so little natural light, it is hard to photograph. The colour of the back wall is pretty accurate, but it is a little more yellow in real life.

The boys have been moved into the former study at the back of our bedrooms. They seem to have really taken to this room, and play in it a lot more than they did their former room. I think they maybe feel more secure because they are in the middle of the house rather than slightly isolate at the front of the house. They are still on their futon mattress, although plans are brewing to build them loft beds in the spring or summer.

The boys initially really wanted a similar colour to their old room, and this is pretty close. It is a little bit lighter, because there is less natural light at the back of our house (thanks, hill covered in tri-plexes on the other side of our back yard). Aaron decided once we had already bought the paint that he wanted grey instead, and then of course Andrew decided he would like red. We compromised and told them they could each pick a colour for their bed when Dave builds them.

Now that the painting is complete, we have started sorting and moving. Hopefully I'll be able to show you that next week, along with my finished Fab Doll Quilt, which has to be mailed in a week or so.

Hope you have a lovely weekend, and if you are in our area, find a way to enjoy the snow!

Let the Switch Begin!

So, the "big switch" has started. Dave has reading week, and he spent a number of days of it moving things around. So far we've done some of the "easiest" moving first. The white storage thing that was in the hallway is now in our bathroom (making it look much tidier, I might add).

Next, the bookshelves from the entry way were moved into the place where the linen storage used to sit. This is nice, as these shelves are narrower than the storage unit was. The down side is that Emma is much more interested in the books now. I found her leafing through "Leisure: The Basis of Culture" the other day, which gave me a good laugh.

We moved those bookshelves, because Dave's bookshelves needed to be moved out of his former study. It is going to become the boys' room, so all the books had to move out to the living room. Now we look much cleverer, as we have the Ante-Nicene Fathers and assorted other theology and commentaries sitting out in our entry way.

Yes, I know the shelves are covering that door, but that is the door to the basement. As we have a basement suite, we don't ever use that door, so its all good.

Now we're on to the more complex changes - moving beds, toys, clothes, drawers while simultaneously painting rooms. All of our bedrooms are turned upside down and the boys' bed is a room with a stuff-covered office desk, while their toys and drawers are shoved into the center of their former bedroom while the walls are primed and painted.

I think we're all feeling a bit turned upside down too. Every day when Emma wakes up or comes home and something is different, she says, "Momma, come see! Come see!" and takes my hand and makes me come and check out the "new" thing she has discovered. Aaron asked this morning if the living room was still going to be the living room when we were all done. I am surprised every time I walk by a door and see a bed in the study. But, we think its better to do these changes now than when we are also adjusting to the new baby's arrival. So, hopefully we'll have a few weeks between the transition of our house and the transition to being a household of 6.

So glad for the holidays . . .

We have had a busy, but really good week and a half of holidays. The first part was hectic - on Christmas Eve we drove 7 hours during the day (the kids were amazing ) and landed at my brother-in-law's house for a whirlwind visit. During 3 1/2 days there we managed to do some of this:

Followed by a lot of this:

And of course some of this:

Followed by stories with Grandpa.

In the next two days the kids and their cousins managed to roast hot dogs:

Eat ice cream ( I love this photo - it looks like the mini pops version of an indy band cd cover)

Plus lots of playing outside:

And finding places to play inside:

And a visit to the family favorite buffet restaraunt:

Whew. After the busy month we had, and our super packed trip, the kids were ready to go home. So home we went, for some more laid back time that looked a bit like this:

We did all our favorite slow, relaxed, just being together activities (and I did some frantic I-haven't-organized-the-shelves-or-mopped-the-floor-in-weeks type cleaning). Pajamas have been worn all day. Stories have been read. Forts have been built, played in, knocked down, and rebuilt.

Lego has been constructed, broken, rebuilt (well, some of it), mixed together (Jack Sparrow and Joshamee Gibbs are just out of this photo, riding on their carriage to confront the evil empire (or possibly steal from them)), and remixed with blocks and train sets.

Play kitchens have been assembled, and ridiculous quantities of tea and cake (real and imaginary) have been made and drunk.

Art supplies (especially these great pirate and knight rubber stamp kits I got the boys for Christmas) have been re-organized and used.

And I've been able to make food with the kids again. Emma is so proud because that is her very. own. pizza. It is amazing, because I don't think I've done this since the summer, and this was the first time she was big enough to actually help spread out her own dough, put on toppings (five of them) and cheese and help me put the pizza in the oven. I have missed spending time with her, and I was a little sad that making food with Mom was a new and novel experience.

Here's the boys with their pizzas:

As well, friends have been visited, phoned, and hosted. Sewing has recommenced. Snow men have been made. Life has been full but boring in the last week.

I remember when this used to be my every day stay at home mom life and I was sooo bored of it. But now it all seems so fleeting and precious.

Tomorrow Aaron and Emma go back to daycare (I have some prep to do and I want a day to just sew and be alone in the house with CBC podcasts all day) and Andrew will be off here and there for the next three days. Then we go back to our seperate, busy lives again. Dave has a Master's Thesis proposal and essay to write. Andrew has school. I have work. The other two have daycare (blessedly only 3 days a week). It won't be months before I can settle in to my home like this and just be with these precious people. But I am glad to have had this time to feel refreshed after a very long, busy year. Ahhhh

Not a Handmade Christmas this Year . . .

I'm feeling a little bummed out this year. I'm so busy with work and family that I don't think its going to be a Handmade Holiday this year. I love to make people gifts - it is one of my favorite things to do is sew for my friends and family. But right now I'm really trying to just focus on getting enough sleep, being well prepared for my classes, and keeping my house and family sane. For the next month, Dave has papers due, so we have put the kids in daycare full time. This should, theoretically give me more time, but I have also picked up an extra class at school, so I am almost working full time. It means that when the kids are home we like to focus on spending time with them, and that they are staying up later thanks to long afternoon naps every day. So, sewing and crafting are taking a back seat to keeping us all sane. Sigh.

Ah well, I do like teaching. It brings out a different side of my personality. I can be loud and use my slightly cutting wit (much more effective on teenagers than it is on 5 year olds) and invent clever assignments for the students. But it doesn't give me time to focus on the more contemplative, reflective, artistic side of my personality. Well, I can't do everything all the time, can I?

I suppose not. Hope you're all having a fun November. We're supposed to get our first snow tonight!

Oh, October, how I love you.

I really do love October. Not only is there all the beauty of leaves and the fun of warm weather clothes, but there is my birthday and Halloween. This year Dave was very, very sweet and threw me a surprise party with 15 adults and about 15 kids, all crammed happily into our little house. He managed to get everyone into the house with food and convince them to clean the house in under an hour. Impressive, no?

Here is me, with my mouth open (as always - that's why you never see photos of me - I'm always talking in them) chatting with some of my friends. I didn't have anyone's permission to post photos on the internet, so I figured this was pretty unclear of everyone else.

This past weekend we went to visit the cousins in Ontario. They had a LOT of fun, and both the drives were pretty decent. Here we are at "Crossroads" - the buffet resteraunt Grandma and Grandpa love to take us to (I remember going to it when I came out to meet Dave's parents when we were newly engaged).

The other great thin about visiting the cousins is the space - Dave's brother has a big house (compared to ours) and about an acre of yard that back onto a neighbouring farmer's woodlot. He's been given permission to make paths through the woods, so its a really fun place to play. The kids could be loud, they could run around and they could have a kind of freedom we rarely get in the city. It was great.

Finally, we had Halloween. Here are the finished Jedi costumes. I decided to pick up some brown fabric and make the full Jedi gear. The underneath part is the yellow upolstery fabric I already showed you. The brown is a great basket weave brown cotton gauze that drapes really nicely.

The full costumes were a little too much for me to take on. I spent all my spare time for over a week sewing these, and the house was turned upside down by the time I was done. I've almost go it back in order now.

Emma wore the ancestral cow costume. I don't have blog photos of it, but both Andrew and Aaron have worn this costume for Halloween. Emma went to about half the amount of houses as the boys, as I had to carry her and I'm not that spry right now, but she had fun, anyway.

We went out with two of Andrew's friends - a twin boy and girl. One is in his class this year, and one was in his class last year. Our street is not much for Halloween, being mostly apartment buildings. But one street over and one block south it is Halloween central, as it is all houses and all the kids from the apartment buildings need to trick or treat somewhere. In three blocks (both sides of the street) we had lots of fun and candy for my still quite little ones. There were lots of costumes to look at (both kids and grown ups), decorations everywhere and even a haunted house set up in someone's yard. A super fun time was had by all.

The not so fun part of October has been the appliances break downs. I think I mentioned that our fridge broke down over Thanksgiving weekend? Well, last week, just as we were getting prepared to go away for the weekend, our washing machine broke down. The part Dave thinks we need is on order. Sigh. I was hoping to sew this afternoon, but instead off I go with my four baskets of laundry to hang out at the laundromat. Sigh. Have a great week!

You Know You Haven't Been Sewing Much When . . .

your 7 year old mentions it. Yesterday, Andrew said, "You sure don't have much time to practice your hobby anymore, Mom."

Yes, its true. First trimester pregnancy plus working plus a husband with two grad school seminars in two weeks plus grabby, non-sleeping toddlers have worn me down.

Fortunately, first trimester is over and I'm starting to regain my energy, the seminars are finished (and papers not yet begun) and we've decided that non-sleeping toddlers are to be rocked to sleep by DADDY. Ah.

First on my list: finish my mermaid quilt.

Just the binding left to go. I plan to sew it on the front today and hand sew it while watching the finale of Project Runway Season 7 (have you seen that one yet, Sharon?).

Second: Jedi robes

I know, its yellow not brown. Trust me, I've heard about it already. But the brown was 19.99/m and this was 3.99/m. Doesn't Yoda have a yellow robe, and Obi Wan at some point? I'm going to finish the robes, and try to find photos of Jedi in beige robes.

Third: a Cheeky block for Kat and finish up Sarah and Molly's Free Peicing Study blocks

Fourth: Quick change trousers in cordory

Also, in case you're wondering how to study Philosophy in a house with 3 small children, here is the solution, as presented by Dave in the midst of preparing a seminar last week:
 
Yep, that is earplugs worn under noise dampening headphones. That's my hubby, the stylish one in our family. And yes, that is what my table usually looks like . . . sigh. Okay, off to sew before I start tidying the table instead.

Two Smart Things In One Day

Ironically, today I was just emailing to Kris, telling her that I don't post over at Clever Mamas anymore because I feel like I just don't know what I'm doing as a parent. And then, I do two smart things in one day. Score. You want to hear them (of course as soon as I write them down they will never work again, but oh well).

Emma is feeling sick today (although this photo of her falling asleep at the table is from this weekend at the Smith's house). At bed time she just wanted to nurse and nurse, and since she's almost two I'm trying to wean her. I went to get her a cup of water as a substitute, and I realized that I had lemons in the fridge. What is more comforting, and gets rid of yuk quicker than honey and lemon in warm water, I thought? So I put a dab of honey, a squeeze of lemon and some warm tap water in her sippy cup instead of plain water or milk. Two sips, one cough, and she was off to sleep. Why didn't I think of that two children ago, I ask you?

Often, my children really are like this photo: they play together pretty well. Although you must know that the contents of two of those bowls were all over the couch and floor as soon as I turned my back to load the dishwasher.

But sometimes they fight, especially the older two. Often it stays at the "you're a poopy head" "You're a baby" level, which is frustrating enough, but other times it degenerates into physical fights. Right now, Andrew has a much longer reach than Aaron, so he can pin him and win almost every time. Aaron is one of those "Bad attention is better than no attention" kind of kids, so he will bug his brother just to get any attention from him when he hasn't seen him lately (like, for instance, when he's been at school all week).

Lately, because Andrew has a loose tooth and is extra grumpy, he tends to loose his temper and pound on his brother a lot. Like, several times a day a lot. Today I was tired of it, and I needed a new solution. So I decided that I would take one lego guy away every time he lost his temper with Aaron. This worked for a few times, until Aaron figured it out. Well, what is more fun than watching your brother's lego guys get taken away because of you? So Aaron started pestering Andrew.

After I took away the fourth lego guy, I got wise to the deal. So I said, "You know what, I am tired of hearing fights and insults coming from this room. You must play over here by the bed, and you must play over here by the bookshelf. You are not allowed to talk to each other until you have something nice to say. If I hear insults or threats coming from the room, I'm moving someone out of the room."

What do you think happened? Silence for a while. Two boys who really needed a little space from each other but didn't know it playing happily in their own worlds. And about 20 minutes later, their two games meshed into one and they were playing together again. And they played together happily the rest of the day.

So I guess not being able to play with your brother unless you can be nice is the most logical consequence for constant bickering. It just took me a while to work it out.

And here is a cute photo of Emma with the crown Aaron got her for her birthday last year, because he loves dress up, so he wanted her to have some dress up of her very own. He pulled it out of the bottom of her toybox and she had fun wearing it the other day. Awww.