Easter bunny house

brrrr sleep

Both my boys love to sleep in the cold, fresh air.  I put them in the double stroller, off we go no matter what the weather and before I know it, they are both asleep. Mateyo is the snorer like his dad and Stefan is a tosser like his mom.  They sleep so much longer in the fresh air, so I just park them outside our bay window and I go inside to knit.  Of course I am just on the other side of the window so I can easily see signs of waking, as in crying...hahaha.  It is a nice break for me and I love that they are tucked in several layers of blankets dreaming next to each other.   

It feels like sleeping outside is super healthy for some reason.  I haven't researched this, it's just a mom instinct.  Another mom, Joanna, agrees with me and I love her challenge of trying to do something outside every day during the cold months.  

playing house

I took a couple of big cardboard boxes and made a playhouse for my kids.  It wasn't the best construction but I am proud to say that the house took a good beating for 3 days before it completely fell apart.  My big boy and baby boy pushed and pulled it apart.  Cardboard and kids equals FUN.  Always!

rhino

My baby boy had a rhinoceros carrot cake for his first birthday.  Mama made it from scratch.  It was the healthy version with apple sauce and everyone loved it, or said they loved it.  The birthday boy enjoyed it very much along with his big brother.

making a quilt/blanket

Photo from Pinterest

I am making a light quilt for my one year old boy.  It is his belated birthday present from me.  I have yet to start but I have a few ideas like these birds and all the fabric I need.  Now it's a matter of pinning down the exact idea.

birthday lick

Little birthday boy enjoying a birthday lick from his big brother.

it's here

Crocuses growing against our house.

it's time

So it's time, my baby is now sharing a room with his big brother.  It's going good so far with a few kinks, but overall it's good.  I think the smiles speak for themselves.  More details and follow up about sharing a room to follow.  

To celebrate this big move and make it more special for my older son, I am redecorating a bit in there.  We built a couple of headboards around my son's toddler bed.  The two headboards are foam covered plywood pieces which hang off the walls.  My son leans against them to look at his books and it makes his corner much more cozy and warm.  I think he likes it so far.  More instructions with pictures about building cheap headboards to follow.

PS.  That is my older son's pajama outfit.  He refused to take off his "Bob the Builder" shirt, which he wore all day long and had to wear his thick "Cars" themed socks.  A week ago, my son wore his rocket pajama's all day while we went to the market.  It was cute, we didn't mind.  

basket

Photo from Crochet in Color website.

WOW, I want to make this!  What a great idea and a great crochet website, Crochet in Color. 

with a little help...

This is why people have more than one child, isn't it?  Hahahaha

family of caterpillars

I wanted to do an art project that captured us as a family, but wasn't the typical handprint or footprint.  We painted a ceramic leaf plate using our fingers.  Each one of us made a caterpillar using our fingerprints.  Of course everyone was assisted by mommy and that included daddy as well.  Nothing wrong with a little artistic direction.  Right.  

swiiiiiiing

Winter is long so we have a swing in the house.  It's so much fun for my kids and mommy.

And yes, we are picking out paint colour for our livingroom.  I love the blue during the night and the greeny/grey in the day.  It's so hard to get it right.  It has been months since I've started the process of choosing paint.  It's a big job for us, so we're being slow and steady.

goofy

My sweet baby boy has a sense of humour and he can clap.  He lifts our shirts off our bellies to tease us and flops down dramatically on soft toys just to see our reactions.  He is so goofy.  Both our kids are so goofy.

Also, with the daylight savings time, we feel like we are sleeping in when our kids wake up at 7:30 am  instead of 6:30 am.  That is how I am going to look at it anyways.

birds on tree

watercolour

pencil

While my husband took care of the boys, I had time to do something artistic.  It was so wonderful to just focus on this and have a break.   

Unfortunately my husband knows about this blog, but I'm going to say it anyways, he is pretty awesome.  For the entire weekend he fed, played, held, dressed and generally run around like a monkey so that I could have this time.

To husband: I know you are reading this but don't let it get to your head....hahaha.

To my boys: take good care of your wives like your daddy does.

chickpea salad

I think this chickpea salad looks fantastic, especially now that we are all craving something a little fresh and green.  Picture and recipe from Oh She Glows.

livingroom sketches

Sometimes I like to give decorating options to friends, so I drew up some sketches of a friend's livingroom.  When it comes to decorating in my home, I usually keep the drawings in my head, unless I need to explain my ideas to my husband.  I pretty much communicate with pictures.  Ok, ok, I use a few words too.

So I sat down at the table, borrowed my sons markers and we both drew.  My older son was fascinated by the fact that I could draw a couch.  I gave him my not so good sketches and he coloured them with such amazement and happiness.  He is three years old and it was as if I got a glimpse into who he is.  I have noticed he loves to draw, perhaps because it's something we do together.
 

woohooo!

My baby boy is feeling way better today.  Wooohooooo!!!!  We are all so happy to see him playing with his brother and drinking his milk.  Most of all, I am so happy to see solid poop and I'm not afraid to say it.  All the moms out their will understand what I am talking about.

All our joy is making me think of summer and all the fun things we are going to do. Maybe we will have another bbq and make this watermelon keg filled with watermelon juice.  I got the idea from the Bower Power blog and their watermelon fountain.

PS. Note to self, buy way smaller watermelon for next time.

it's scary...

It's so scary when your little baby is sick.  Mild winters have allowed viruses and/or bacteria, which naturally get killed off by the freezing temperatures, to intensify the symptoms of flues and other illnesses.  We are now on day 4 out of possible 7 of a flu bug that seems to be in circulation.  That's what we learned in the Emergency Room last night.

My baby is still dehydrated but today we got some smiles, a song and a dance out of him.  We are seeing progress and we couldn't be happier.  It's almost over...fingers crossed.

gymnastics

My older son finished his first gymnastics class.  He was so proud of himself for getting a ribbon and of course a lollipop.

My baby son is sick and staying up all night.  Poor thing can't keep anything down.

a Seinfeld episode

So sometimes kids have to learn lessons the hard way.  Sometimes parents do to.  My older son didn't want to get dressed to go out with Dad and his brother.  There was a lot of running away, laughing, bouncing and no co-operation what so ever, which is so unbelievably frustrating when you need to leave the house.  This time I was staying home so it didn't matter too much if my son went out or not.  The opportunity to teach him a hard lesson, as in "you don't help in getting dressed, means you don't go", turned into what might be a Seinfeld episode.

My husband said to my son that he was leaving without him since my older son was being so difficult with getting dressed.  While naked, wearing black socks, my son began to scream, throw stuff and run to the door yelling "Daddy don't go".  While it was heartbreaking to hear him, and funny at the same time, we stuck to our guns and Daddy left.

My son decided to go on the porch and yell for Daddy.  I thought that's where he would get too cold and run right back in since it was probably -15C.  NOPE, that's not at all what happened.  His little skinny naked butt decided to run down the walkway in his black socks to the car while crying at the top of his lungs.  Our neighbours who were shovelling snow and a van driver, turned to see what the noise was all about and all at once laughed out loud.  I had to laugh too.  If that was not an episode from the Seinfeld show than what was.

My husband quickly run out and brought my son back home and left.  The temper tantrum continued until my son felt tired and decided to lie down in his bed.  We had a good talk and hugs and kisses.

So, did the lesson stick?  Not really.

thick and blue

Today while the boys are out tobogganing with their friends, I am making a birthday scarf for my friend.  I love this super think and blueish yarn and because of that it doesn't take too long to crochet.

I love making things for friends and I am considering selling some of my pieces on etsy.  I'm inspired by the compliments I have received, but I don't want to take away from the joy of making things.  However, I love the idea of a sweet little etsy shop where I get to be creative and help to pay for some of my crafty projects.

just a little more snow

Second time shoveling in one day.

February 25

February 16

a little ramble about our day

My little baby just fell asleep to Daddy singing "you are my sunshine".  How sweet is that, to fall asleep in your daddy's arms all tucked in and hearing a lullaby.

My older son, fell asleep in the car, so Daddy carried him home and I tucked him in his big boy bed.  I guess this morning's gymnastics class and bath time with his baby brother took a lot out of him.  While doing afternoon crafts, he said, "thank you Mommy for buying me markers".  If that wasn't sweet enough, he also said "I love that you made me a milkshake".  He is such a sweet little person.

I just want to remember this when the temper tantrums start...hahahaha

11 months and counting...

One more month and my baby will be one.  How quickly that one year passed by no matter how hard I hugged or cuddled him.  I guess time just moved on by.  

But I'm in some kind of disbelief that my baby will soon be one, that my baby won't be a baby.  Seven teeth, crawling, throwing, eating, hitting, pulling, signing "more" and now letting go and trying to stand on his own.  All that happened in front of my eyes and still I can't believe it.  

What replaced sweet little baby noises was loud laughter between two brothers, so I am happy.  At the same time I am sad too, because I wish it would all slow down a bit.  Eleven months and counting...

one more crochet hat

So it is February and winter is still here in full force.  I noticed my older son's knit hats were riding up and exposing his ear lobes to the cold wind so I made him another hat.  I crocheted a green one that covered his ears and back of neck.  I made a slightly different one for his baby brother.  I didn't follow a specific pattern but started out with double crochet and ended up with single crochet to make it more dense on the ears and neck.  Once again I used the same youtube videos to help me get started as I did in my other hat project.

This time it took me three tries to get the right size and I kept trying on the hat on my son as I made it.  He was sleeping at the time, but I knew it might be a struggle to get a three year old toddler to cooperate during the day.  By the time he woke up, he had a brand new hat with a pom pom, which he loved.

legos and dressers

Photo from LegoExpress    

For our kids' room we will be combining legos and two dresses, one for each son. We found the dressers in the alley and I couldn't resist.  We are still in the process of painting them and  somehow legos will be involved.  Once we are finished the project, I think our kids will love us more...hahahaha.  

doing crafts

Crafts are big in our family.  Sometimes it's not even a real craft but a chance to just play around with stuff like pipe cleaners, feathers, kid scissors, glue, markers, beads, noodles, chalk, paint, sparkles, wooden figurines and so many other things.

I love to make things all the time, hence my knitting or crocheting or whatever happens to interest me.  I've noticed my older son loves it too.  So he often asks to play with something and we end up making things.  Here are some of those fun things that either he has created on his own or with my assistance.

Reindeer antlers for Christmas 2011 (pipe cleaners)                                                                                                                                                            

Decorating a rock September 2011 (paint, stickers)

Chalk drawing (very intense concentration)

Bathtub crayons (washable crayons)

Feather Crown/Hat (feathers, glue and paper)

Painting wooden dinosaur (for a special birthday present)

Drawing with markers (my son's very first drawing of a car at age 3)

Can you tell we are proud!

"not yet spring" season

I love decorating, always have and always will.  During the long winter months, decorating becomes my hobby and that includes the outdoors.  So, now that it's passed Christmas, not yet Spring or Easter, how do you decorate outside?  While the St. Valentine's Day look is festive, it's not for the long run and what do you do after February 14th?    

You can liven it up inside with flowers and bright colours, but it might not be a good fit for the outside with all the snow and cold temperatures still around.  At the same time, it's time for a little colour to liven up your spirits.  We need a little spirit lift because the snow here can last all the way up to May.

Here in Canada most people leave behind their outside arrangements from Christmas.  I have tweeked ours to transition from Christmas to "not yet Spring" season, while not committing to a specific holiday either.  I love green, therefore making a monochromatic arrangement of different shades of green really appealed to me and it made sense of the old pine branches.  So after buying a few bunches of long leaves from Ikea, spray painting old decorative twig balls bright green, and reusing the pine branches, we have a new outside arrangement.  Ta Da!

Now onto decorating the inside...

funnel pom poms

So while shopping at Ikea my older son took two funnels and placed them over his chest and run around saying pom poms.  Hmmmm...I wonder what people were thinking but I had to laugh out loud.  It was too funny.  I'm not sure where he got it from.  Hahahahahaha

On another note, it's been two nights and my ten month old hasn't woken up at 3 am.  Woohoo!  That's one of the best sleeps I have had in a while.  Fingers crossed for tonight.

favourite part of our day

Everyday we ask our older son what his favourite part of the day was and today he said, "Eating chocolate."  He got special chocolates and cars from his grandma for St.Valentine's Day.  The little one enjoyed some chocolates too and it looked like that might have been his favourite snack as well.

two boys. one love.

July 2011

December 2011

Every time my boys play together and chase each other from one end of the house to the other, I stop and listen and watch.  I have to make sure that no one, mostly my ten month old, is getting hurt, but I just love to listen to their laughter and watch how their eyes sparkle with joy around each other.  The love between them is so amazing.  It is almost tangible.  It fills the entire room and you have to stop whatever you are doing and watch their beautiful friendship grow.  With every giggle and cry and tumble, they are becoming closer and closer.  I love that they love each other so much.  It is worth every sleepless night to see my little boys becoming brothers.  It's pure love.

when i grow up...

While driving back from gymnastics my older sons said, " When I grow up I want to be a cell phone and when you grow up, Mommy, you will be a cell phone."  Who knew we will both grow up to be cell phones.

34 and free

Finally, after 34 years I am able to realize that I don't want toxic friendships in my life.  It took so long to finally become strong enough to move on and refuse to be lured back in by the chaos and drama of another person's life.  Finally I am able to actually act in my best self interest and take care of myself first, instead of worrying about someone else's feelings.  I guess the thirties are when you truly know who you are and more importantly you don't take less than you deserve.

Do men feel like this?  Do little boys worry about hurting other people's feelings the way girls do?  I have two boys.  Are they going to feel like they finally know who they are in their thirties?  How does a mom raise two boys who are sensitive about others and strong for themselves at the same time?  Or is this all society and boys are allowed to be themselves from the start?

I guess I will have to discover those answers as my boys grow up.  As for me, I am finally in a place where I can be me and I am finally surrounded by people who truly know me.  I don't have to be someone else for them and how freeing is that.  I am thirty four and finally free.    



    

coffee tastes better in these

Source: bodum.com via Mirka on Pinterest

I love coffee.  I love it with cream.  I love the colour of it.  Most of all,  I love drinking it from a clear glass with thin walls.  I am not a mug person at all.  As a very visual and tactile person, the cup is just as important as what's in it.  Yup, that's how I enjoy my cup of joe at 6 am, the time when my kids love to wake up. 

So my husband got two of these double walled glass cups for us to enjoy our morning coffee in.  The double walls allow you to hold your hot cup of coffee without burning you.  This was the most perfect Christmas present for me.  I think coffee now tastes better in these cups.  

Oh, and the company that I drink it with is not so bad either.

In case anyone is curious, I have not been paid to advertise this product at all.  I just love drinking coffee with my husband in these cups.