The elf on the shelf

During the weeks before Christmas we were visited by an elf. Not just any elf, but an "elf on the shelf". 

We bought a book at Barnes and Noble about the elf, and somehow that transaction must have notified Santa that we would like an elf as a visitor in our house. Well, he came. He first appeared on a high shelf, probably so Miss Whiskers (the cat) wouldn't try to chase him. But soon, we would find him in all sorts of places. The kids loved waking up early in the morning, to be the first ones to find him. Here are some of the pictures. 

 Little stinker, busted into my stash of mini marshmallows and had a ball playing with them.

                                                             Just chillin' with the ladies.

 Just 3 days into December and he opened ALL the little windows! The kids were a little mad at him for that, but mostly they just laughed at him. He was a bit messy. Can you see the crumbs?

                                                             A musical little fellow.

                               I'm just glad he didn't slip any of my stitches. He looks quite cozy.

                                              Toilet paper? Now really, was that necessary?

 We caught him red-handed this time! He was doodling on our framed pictures with a dry-erase marker. Can you see the glasses and beaded necklace in the picture?  

                                                      Well at least he snacks healthy.

                  It took us a while to find him this time. I don't know how he stayed there ALL day.

                      Not bad. Looks like he was actually putting our laundry in the laundry shoot.

 And then there's THIS! We found him in the bathroom. He made himself a little zip line out of dental floss and my hair rollers.

 Oh, poor little guy was sick with a cold. He managed to make himself a cozy bed out of Papa's slipper.

King of the  castle, indeed. 

 Just playing with Brian's old toys. 

 A little night-time snack. 

 Silly elf, got tangled up in Gabby's lacing cards. 

 Keeping himself occupied through the night. Check out his judo belt and glasses!

 Getting creative with paper snowflakes. 

 Gone fishing. 

We're glad he stayed all the way till Christmas Day. I wonder where we'll find him next year?

My kids love veggies...well, at least TWO of them.

Up till now, my kids actually liked THREE veggies: carrots, green beans and corn. We'd eat two of them every day and switch it around a bit the next day and have the third veggie. Woop dee doo!
But now, it seams, corn makes my kids sick (sore tummies and frequent bathroom visits), so we're down to TWO veggies. *sigh* At least they love fruit. All kinds of fruit!

 Since we're down to two veggies, I thought I'd mix it up a bit. I added roasted garlic butter to green beans and surprisingly they both loved it. One step back, one step forward, I guess.

We do have other veggies in the house, that Brian and I eat. Maybe one day the kids will change their minds. We can only hope. Here's my salad, and yes, we have hand shaped salad tossers.

Backyard Crafting

Since it was such a lovely day, I felt we really needed to be outside. But the kids were having a great time playing INSIDE. I didn't want to be a party-pooper, so I gathered up a bunch of crafty supplies and some cozy blankets and we headed outside. And the kids loved it!

 Ben was very happy, crafting mini booklets and sticking stuff together. He was so excited to be using "the good stuff"... my pricey punchers and stack of colourful card stock. The best part...the convenience of having the compost close by, so that he could dump his pencil sharpener shavings right in.

 Hmmmm, Christmas in July? Gabs has a thing for Christmas wrapping paper and stickers. Which is funny, because we don't use wrapping paper. One way or another, it just makes it's way over to our house. And we have Great Grandma to thank for the Christmas stickers. She saves them all by the bunches, just for Gabs.

Well that worked! One hour of crafting and the kids were ready to move on to something else....like WEEDING! Of all things! I couldn't have been happier. There I was, peacefully crafting, in the shade of our tree on a comfy blanket, while the kids weeded the garden beds for me. Total parenting score. Here I'm working on a mini booklet about our back yard and garden. Pictures to follow soon. 

Cooling Off

It's been a really hot July so far. And when it's this hot, just about the only thing that will cool you off is  a bunch of water. It's been great, just hanging out in the backyard, with the kids running around playing with water. Water balloons, sprinklers, watering cans and squirt toys. My kids are loving all this water play. And sometimes, they even water the garden beds for me. Bonus!

                                                           Here is Gabs....cooling off.

Winter Wool Socks

I've been working on socks. Lots and lots of socks. It seems I've been able to memorize the pattern so why not just keep going. I don't need to carry a book or a sheet with a pattern with me anymore. Just the yarn and needles. It's a small project so I can carry it around anywhere I go. Doctor's appointments, various sports activities, church, family gatherings, picnics, road trips, etc. 
There is a really easy pattern for socks in "Charmed Knits" by Allison Hansel. (Barnes and Noble $10.48) That's the one I've been using over and over. 
I've even been able to adjust the pattern a little to make a smaller version for each of my kids. 

    Here is a pair I made for Gabs about a year ago, but now that she's grown I made her a bigger pair. 

    And here is the new pair. A little bigger so there is room for little feet to grow, but still very colourful and full of stripes. I think they'll really come in handy on those cold winter days when we're outside for hours building a snow fort. I always get a little nervous about about frozen toes, so now we're all set. : )

Here is the pair I made for Ben. It's great how knit socks are a bit stretchy so they'll fit the kids for a while. I used the same ball of yarn for these two socks but they look different. This kid keeps getting taller and taller. And his feet are getting longer and longer. I think the next pair I make for him will have to be a small adult size. 

Here's a pair I made for myself. So comfy! They're a bit fuzzy in the picture cuz I've been wearing them all winter. I also started making socks out of left over yarn. They look a little mixed up but still nice. I'll post a pic of those soon. 

I'm still working on a pair for the hubs. Finally, he let me make him something. I think he's afraid I'll spend months working on something and then he won't like it and hurt my feelings by not wearing it. Silly man. Doesn't he know I'll make him wear it even if he doesn't like it. : )  I guess that's why he went with socks. LOL

Playsilks

Here's something super fun we've been doing. We've been dyeing our own play silks! I love it! It's so much fun and super easy. You never know how it's going to turn out, too. I ordered a bunch of 100% silk scarves and squares at dharmatrading.com. Luckily I didn't have to buy and dyes. My good friend, Cindy, had all sorts of colours and all the tools necessary for the dyeing process.
I wasn't sure if the kids would like them and if I was just wasting my money. Turns out they absolutely love their play silks. They use them is so many ways. The other day, Gabs was using one as a baby sling, one as a skirt, one as a cape, one as a blanket and one as a pretend river for her toy animals.
Here are some pics of the kids just playing with their silks,  on a not-so-hot day out in the back yard.

                                              Oh, and we have new grass and a new fence, too. 

                          Ben is holding up one of the rectangular silks he's been using as a cape lately.

                                                         Gabs showing her square silk.

                                                              My little gypsy child.

                                             Ben was sure the silk was helping him jump higher.

Here Gabby made a little hammock for her doll out of a playsilk. I love all the different ways of using them.

Lilac Festival Parade and STAR WARS?

 A few days ago, we took the kids to see the Lilac Festival Parade. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and a gentle breeze made it quite pleasant to be outside. We found a nice semi-shaded spot off the road, spread a blanket and got settled in to watch the parade.  Gabby nearly jumped right out of her pants, when she saw these "Princesses".  

 I'm not sure who they really were, but they had pretty, fluffy dresses, tiaras and they were happily waving at my bouncing little girl. And they were in a princess carriage, too.

 We saw 2 fire trucks, too. Very loud ones, say my kids. 

 And Garry, the Happy Pirate was there, too.

All the bands were great, but we really enjoyed the Bag Pipers. 

 We also saw the cutest, little, old men driving around in the cutest, little, old cars. Teehee. 

 But NOTHING prepared us for this. Boy, were we in for a treat!

  STAR WARS!!!

 Here's Queen Amidala in one of my favourite outfits.

Chewbacca, Storm Troopers, Han Solo, a little Princess Leia and a Jawa.

 The kids loved seeing the "walking carpet" : )

 They even had Darth Vader, being his cheerful self. 

Awesome! I hope they do the 4th of July parade, too. 

Spring at the Park

I'm so glad we had a nice sunny day. I don't think I can take another 3 days in a row of rain. So I went to a park and found some interesting stuff. I found out my camera is pretty good. I took this pic way up close and it's quite clear and not fuzzy at all. 

 I also found The Poet's Garden. I didn't know we had one of those. It's a Shakespeare garden. How cool is that? There are even a few stone benches, with Shakespeare quotes carved into them.

 Here's a little stone path leading to one of the stone benches. A nice spot to read a book. 

 Another stone bench. This might be a good spot for some wedding photos. Or maybe a family photo...if I could ever get my kids to hold still, that is.  

 I also found some Trillium. Apparently they are endangered. I made sure my little Gabs did not pick them. : )

 Oh, I also found this tree...kind of looks like a face, doesn't it?