and we live to tell the tale....

Last night was a momentous event in our house..... Ava had her first sleepover with her friend Kailee.  Ava has been preparing for this for the last week.  She requested 2 identical "floor length" nightgowns, gummi worms, chips, chocolate eggs,  lemon perrier and Hannah Montana movies.....I felt like I was dealing with the demands of a deranged pop star.  After hours of "when is she going to get here?" the moment finally arrived.....and the FUN began!

::we started with making our own pizzas..which proved very fun and MESSY!

:: oh my....my boy with rolling pin.....stinkin' adorable

:: here are the girls in their matching nightgowns... i did not make them floor length as requested (tripping hazard) and please disregard the gaping necks...the girls put them on backwards.  Notice the princess heels on Kailee...this later caused intense foot cramps at 3am!!!

:: the response I got when I interrupted a session of Hannah Montana skits

:: the morning after... late night of whispered giggles, tons of junk food, lots of singing and constant reprimanding of a little brother

Ava said her sleepover was "awesome" and is already planning the next one.  I don't blame her... I'm looking forward to it too!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
                                                   inspired by Soulemama....and in her words

fabric lasagna???

This cute pile of fabric was able to occupy my 4 and 2 year old for at least 20 minutes at a time yesterday (the longest snow day in history) and in my house that is really saying a lot.  
Can you guess what it is?

                                         :: I took my scrap fabric and cut it into squares

 

:: I sandwiched and sewed the squares together...trimming off the ugly edges

:: and voila... I had a game of memory (or concentration) for the kids to play

:: I used contrasting fabrics...making matches clear

:: here they are all snug in a drawstring bag.... and NOT all over my floor!!

I loved making these and have a ton of ideas for more sets.  I have a friend who loves doing puzzles so I thought I would  make about a hundred of very small squares for the ultimate game of memory.

I currently have a set of these at little bird selling for $8.50.  You can also contact me directly to purchase a set if you wish.  I can't wait to hear your comments about these!

Brace yourselves.... the kids actually enjoyed dinner tonight!!!!

   Meals in this house are usually a huge disaster (unless I am serving chips, pasta or McDonalds)..... everybody complains, very rarely do we get through a meal without someone going on a timeout for making gagging noises, and there have been some dinners that even the dog turned her nose up at.

TONIGHT THAT ALL CHANGED.  

This afternoon the kids and I made spinach and rice balls from this recipe. I did make some changes though.... I used basmati rice instead of brown.... I used marble cheese instead of mozzarella and  I did NOT spray the tops with PAM.  They were super easy to make and so very delicious!

I prepared all the ingredients and let the kids make the "meatballs"

                       :: please take note of the PERMANENT maker all over Anthony's hands

While they were in the oven the kids played a little game of smothering each other with cushions... how adorable

Here they are right out of the oven and I think they look delish. They get nice and crispy on the outside and gooey and cheesy on the inside..perfect to dip in marinara sauce!

 

Happy faces and empty bowls at the end of dinner....what more could you ask for?  Well I guess someone to do the dishes!

Are you looking for a companion?

Are you physically active?

Do you enjoy horseback riding?

Is an afternoon full of music what you are looking for?

 or perhaps just relaxing with a good book.

If you (or a child you know) is looking for an adorable handmade plush bunny made by me, you are in luck.  I will be dropping these 4 bunnies (along with a batch of bibs) off at Little bird on Ottawa St. this week.  

These bunnies are clearly wide eyed with excitement over the prospect of a new home.

B.E.L.T to belt

For some reason I am powerless against the powers of Tim Horton's B.E.L.T.... I have only had two in my life but I can tell you where I was when I had them and probably what I was wearing!!    Today I spent the day longing for a B.E.L.T. and with the word belt running through my head the majority of the day I felt I had no alternative....my back was against the wall.  I made a belt for Ava (whose pants are chronically falling down due to her extreme dance moves) using this tutorial by elsie marley.

The tutorial suggested that you use a D-ring for the buckle but of course since I didn't have one I ran around the house searching for something to substitute.  I actually ended up cutting the plastic ring off of my laundry bag....it worked and I think it looks cute.  There has been a request for 2 more belts from Ava and Anthony feels that he needs one too.  I am off to create some more belts while I have the motivation.

making

We have been in the business of making around here lately

::making art

::making bouncy castles

::making big messes

::making super "happy faces"

and most significantly

 

                          




   :: making PROGRESS!!!!!!!!    

Much to my excitement you can now find some of my handmade baby items (reversible bibs, blanket sets and pants with an extra panel in the back for diaper bums) in the most wonderful consignment shop called Little Bird on Ottawa St..... I will write more about the store in another post because they have a lot of great things going on there!!!! 

        Next post will hopefully be a finished bathroom reveal!!!

The one where I talked myself down

Monday was Ava's first official day in juniour kindergarten.  It rained horribly that day so we had to take our back to school pictures inside the house.  It turned into a photo shoot with Ava picking poses and demanding props.  I truly had to talk myself down that morning as I was thinking about how much she has grown and how much she will grow this year... and yes the tears were flowing.

last year

this year... oh my

proud of her Batman "packpack"

Of course the rain meant that she got to wear Auntie Andee's old raincoat which is over 20 years old (wow Andee doesn't that make you feel old???) 

When she got home from school Ava insisted that the teacher told them that they had to use their mom's computers to do their "housework".

exhausted

I love summer!!!!!!!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. 

inspired by Soulemama and in her words

a new obsession

Pizza grilled on the barbeque...need I say more.  I used this technique and it worked perfectly.  We put our garden tomatoes, homemade pesto (basil from the garden) and cheese (NO FRILLS..ha ha) on this one and it tasted amazing!!  Tomorrow.....dessert pizza!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. 

inspired by Soulemama and in her words

What we have been up to

We have obviously lost our minds....we are having our ONLY bathroom totally gutted and remodelled.   

Yes it looks as if the bathroom is actually a closet and guess what....this picture is pretty accurate.........our bathroom is a closet.

We have had to be out of the house pretty much all day for the last week because of the lack of bathroom and we have had to be creative with how we spent our days.

We have been spending a lot of time::

:: picking leaves from the big tree out in front of nonna's house and hiding behind them in an attempt to avoid getting in trouble for hitting.  The dress was a last nights creation.  It was my first successful attempt at shirring and I love the way it looks and Ava loves to wear it.... I see a lot more dresses like this in Ava's future.

:: on time outs...... for a variety of infractions but he gets an A+++ for physique!!

: canning  zucchini relish and zucchini pickles 

:: sifting through my grandma's button jar.... the same one I spent hours sifting through as a child

:: vegging out on the couch with friends

:: a lot of swimming......... some loving it 

and some not!!

We are running out of ideas for these LONG days....any suggestions?

{this moment}

 {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. 

inspired by Soulemama and in her words

Sewing for fish

We have been doing a ton of swimming these last few weeks.....the weather has been so hot and humid I don't know how we would have coped without swimming.  Both kids love the water and Ava has gone from depending on water wings to snubbing them entirely.
I have loved spending  my nights sewing for both of my little fish.

Sun hats were tops on the list of course.  I used the same patterns as here with the necessary adjustments to size (I still made Anthony's too small) and interfacing and the kids seem to love them.  They are so quick and easy I don't mind when they get lost and left all over the place (well I guess I mind a little).

Next on the list was swimwear.  I was so inspired by Angry Chicken   when she created swimsuits for all 3 of her girls I thought I should give it a try for Ava.

I think it turned out pretty good.  I used a vintage Butterick pattern and some swimwear fabric from Fabricland.  It was relatively easy to construct but I must admit that my inside seams don't look very nice.  It was not a cheap endeavour (you could probably buy one at a fraction of the cost) but it was fun and I love the feeling of "beating the system" and making it myself.