baby shower

The baby shower for my sister last night was lovely. Lots of our family were able to be here, including piles of kids, so it was relaxed and fun and so very, very nice to see everyone. A few times, I just kind of sat back and was delighted to have our house full of people we love, all together to celebrate a brand new little person about to arrive in the world. There is nothing more exciting than that.

itsy bitsy spider, p style

Check out P's dance moves in the bathtub. He didn't learn them from us, that's for sure. I'm not sure if anyone in their right mind could watch this without cracking up. He's such a ham.

He woke up during his nap this afternoon, repeating "lepidopterist". Over and over. He learned it from Maybe You Should Fly a Jet! Maybe You Should Be a Vet!

baby shower

We found out yesterday that we have a niece on the way! My sister is coming to visit next week, and we're hosting a shower, so it was kind of fun to find out that it's a girl before the big event. My Frenchy's senses were tingling when I drove by today (I'm only half-joking) so I popped in for a minute to see what there was to find. I bought this super-fun set of candlesticks, which I think I will put pink candles in and line up on the table.

Do you have any fantastic shower suggestions? It will be in the evening, and will be pretty low-key. Lots of chatting and visiting and eating. But I'm thinking that some simple things like these would be cute and non-tacky.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

easter fun for the fam

I thought the family would like to see Phillip and his Easter egg hunt yesterday. So very, very cute.

before and after

Before the haircut, and...
after!

Our sweet boy after his haircut. (You can imagine away that hideous floor. After some hard work on our part over the next few weeks, your dreams will come true!) How sweet is that little face? I often wear my sunglasses on my head, so I think he was copying me.

Speaking of our wee one, he threw up all over me tonight, after my impromptu birthday gathering ended. All over. He's sleeping now, and I'm hoping that that was it, and he'll feel better in the morning. As for me, I had a horrendous day sick in bed yesterday, but today I feel human again. Good grief! Adam and I watched Hot Fuzz last night, which was hilarious. So was Shaun of the Dead, which we watched a little while back. Good mindless sick-day movies to watch.

And on a significantly happier note, the cherry twig I brought in to force has blossomed!
I have a great dessert recipe for you tomorrow, so "Be sure to... be sure to what?... what was Little Orphan Annie trying to say?... Be sure to drink your Ovaltine." Oh, wait. Be sure to check in for the recipe, having nothing to do with Ovaltine.

no more monkeys jumping on the bed!

It's been too long without a picture of Mr P. So here he is, jumping on the bed. He's such a little monkey!

winter morning, and the comfort week winner!

Phillip and I made a short documentary of our play time outside this morning to share with you.

The winner of the three bars of my fabulous soap, for participating in Comfort Week, is right here in Nova Scotia! Yay, Andrea! I had a list of participants, and had Adam pick a random number without telling him why. He chose Andrea's number! E-mail me your address (and last name, too, to grahamsherrie at yahoo dot ca) and I'll send the soaps your way. Thanks again to everyone for playing along, and the gears are turning to come up with something for Spring. Which, thankfully, isn't far away!

Oh, and lastly - thanks so very much for all of your sweet well-wishes. I am feeling much, much better. I think this prescription is doing the trick!

cookings, part 2

Phillip couldn't have those snazzy pots and pans without a stove! So I made one last night from a duct-tape-covered box and some adhesive hooks.

He loves it. (He's checking to see if the fish is done in the photo.)

peter and the creepy doll

This is Peter, Phillip's new buddy. I bought him from this Etsy shop. He's so sweet, well-made, and Phillip loves him. He's smaller and less expensive than many other Waldorf-type dolls, and I think he's just right. He's stuffed with real wool, and is cute as a button. Unlike this:
Which is the "baby" Phillip loved, and doted upon until Peter's arrival. It was a gift, and its glassy eyes with eyelashes only on the bottom lids kind of freak me out. I think it might disappear, now that Peter can fill the 'baby' void.

A funny story about Peter's name: over Christmas, we got to see some of Adam's extended family, which was great. He has a cousin named Peter, who Phillip took a shining to and toddled around after for an entire afternoon. When we arrived home, the doll was here! The name that came with him was 'Tobly', so that's how I introduced him to Phillip. A little while later, after letting them get to know each other, I asked Phillip what his name was. "Peter." Clear as day. "Peter, Peter, Peter." So his name is Peter.

the sweetest boy and funniest movie

Adam took this picture of Phillip today. I love this boy so much.

We re-watched Little Miss Sunshine tonight. (Warning: there's serious language in the upcoming clip link.) Grandpa and the chicken scene kill me. I'm still giggling.

december 31 blizzard cookies (aka snickerdoodles)

I bought this gorgeous 2009 calendar from Jen Altman's Etsy shop. I love her beautiful blog, Nectar and Light, and thought that this would be a nice way to enjoy her photography throughout the year. I haven't yet decided exactly how I'll display it... for now, January is on the fridge. I'm thinking of doing something on the wall, but haven't developed that thought yet.
Someone with chubby little hands really likes these cookies. Someone other than me, that is. I've made Snickerdoodles before, and had forgotten how delicious they are. And easy, too. When Phillip's a bit older he can really help with them; for now, he had his own little bowl and whisk with some flour and "cin-min". (One of his favourite things to play with in the pantry is the jar of "cin-min kicks"). Anyway, it's an easy dough, rolled into balls and then in cinnamon sugar. You can see a few more pics and the recipe here. What better way to start a new year than by eating buttery cookies?
I guess it could be eating buttery cookies in the midst of a blizzard. We have a blizzard warning for tonight, and this time I'm a bit more prepared for a power outage than I was last week. I bought a crank radio / flashlight this morning. The radio was really the only thing I was kicking myself for not having last week. Hopefully we won't even need it and we'll have power, but just in case - I like to be prepared. Have a safe and happy new year; see you in 2009!

christmas, part 2

A boy who had fun building a snowman (with chocolate eyes!) and riding a toboggan with his Papa.

Christmas morning!
And the remnants of Christmas dinner.

We still haven't finished Christmas - we have yet to party with my folks, which we'll do later in the week. The house is slowly coming back to a somewhat livable state, it's a beautiful sunny day, and I think I hear a sweet boy waking up. It's a good afternoon!

christmas, part one

We had a lovely holiday and are home again. We visited lots, ate lots, and have lots of laundry and cleaning to do, especially since we didn't have power for a few days before going away. Adam took a few pictures I'll share; more are coming when I unpack my camera. The PJ's were an early gift from Phillip's aunt (my sister) and uncle, who will be having their first wee one in 2009. I'm going to be an aunt, yay! I really am super excited.
Adam gave me this gorgeous handmade wooden ladle, specifically for crockpot use, so the surface doesn't scratch. I love it, and so does Phillip!
And this was a gift I gave to Annie, which I made from a beautiful 100% wool Frenchy's sweater. She uses a water bottle every night, so I knew that she would appreciate it. And I thought it was quite clever, since Toast sells similar ones for 44 pounds. Too bad I didn't get a better picture! I'll be back soon with a few more pics of some beautiful handmade goodness.

christmas reading cont'd

Adam took this picture of P and I doing some parallel reading this morning.

P at Ellenwood

And speaking of having trouble staying upright...

"Help, help, help up, okay."

a great gift set, no heat dry, and 18 months today

Are any of you local readers interested in buying a fabulous gift set for someone for Christmas? This set is in a huge, beautiful basket, and contains:
Oatmeal, Milk & Honey soap
Sweet Birch soap
Strawberry Cream soap
Peppermint Poppyseed soap
handmade pottery soap dish (blue)
Candy Cane bath salts
Cherry Almond bath salts
Bergamot Fizzing Milk Bath
Peppermint Fizzing Milk Bath
Candy Cane Sugar Scrub (4oz)
Pink Grapefruit Sugar Scrub (16 oz)

It's worth over $60, and I'm asking $40. Leave a comment if you're interested!
I bought this strange tealight thing at Frenchy's today. It's not like me to buy little candle things, but this one reminded me of elvish hats and winter tree-shapes. I'm a sucker for pottery, and I have some crafty Christmas tree-plans which may or may not come to fruition this month. This could be used undrneath one of those.

This is the newest member of our family! It's a cute little portable dishwasher. We lived without a dishwasher until today, and I must say that my outlook on life is just a little bit brighter now that I can use former dishwashing time in other, more fun, ways. Like playing Carcassone, which is what Adam and I are going to do in a few minutes. Best. Game. Ever. (Yes, Jamie. It's made in Germany. Heh heh.) Oh - it's also has the Energy Star efficiency rating, and we'll be using less water. Excellent. We bought it from a local store, as well.

I also wanted to thank all of you for the comments that you're so sweet to leave! I'm sorry I seldom get back to you individually, but I try to respond within the comments field as often as I think of it. Which isn't as often as I would like.


And lastly, but certainly not leastly, Phillip is 18 months old today! Here's he and Adam, reading a book they picked up at the library this morning. P loves it, in case you can't tell.

more P and a new KitchenAid!

P helped me vacuum on the weekend. It was the first time he touched the vacuum while it was on; it's louder than a jet.
Sometimes he lies down, just for fun. Like tonight, after supper.
Odds and ends:

KitchenAid update: They're sending me a new one! They called tonight to let me know. While Phillip was screaming about having to get in the bathtub. More accurately, it was screaming about having to get undressed, which involved taking a toy out of his hand for 0.07 seconds so his arm would go through the sleeve of his shirt. It was a bit difficult to execute the conversation. But I can expect my shiny new mixer to arrive in 7-10 business days, yipeeee!

Americans: get out there and vote tomorrow! I'm very interested to see how it all goes.

I am making all kinds of wonderful things for an upcoming Christmas craft fair at the Fire Hall on Pleasant Street here in Yarmouth November 29&30. Mark it down - I'm going to have a few fantastic new things (like Moonlight Pomegranate soap and a Dead Sea Mineral Mud) which I haven't offered before.

Oh, and I bought a new camera on the weekend! My old little one has been temperamental lately, and I wanted another one with a few more features, including video, for clips of P. I bought a snazzy little Kodak, and I love it so far. There are a lot more features than on my old one, so I'll have to play with some of the manual settings and figure out all of the details. In all of my free time. Of which I seem to have very little as of late. Speaking of which, I need to clean up the kitchen. It's a bit of a disaster right now, to say the very least. Here I go, rambling away. Time to scoot.

Good night, and sweet dreams!

helping and other odds and ends

I found this sweet embroidered dish towel at Frenchy's yesterday.
Along with this fabulous mug. It's especially great that it's shaped like a pitcher on three sides. Perfect to pour tea directly down the throat. Objects in photo are larger than they appear.

Phillip helped me sweep the kitchen a few weeks ago. I nearly cried, it was so sweet. Especially when he was sweeping around the piles of milk jugs and bowls he had strewn around the floor.

little lion

P loved being a lion, ("ly-lon!") but not so much having the hood on his head ("Off! Off!"). Happy Halloween!

cute little guy

My wonderful photographer husband Adam found out today that he won two honourable mentions in this fall's Sunbury Shores photo competition! I am so very proud. He took these pictures of P last week when I was away - I love how Phillip expresses his level of concentration in the positions of his hands. Lion photos coming shortly (I'm posting between trick-or-treaters)!