tooth news

I forgot to mention something of great importance - Phillip has his first tooth! It's a razor sharp little blip on his bottom gum. Which is probably a contributing factor to the poor sleep up until a few nights ago. As you can see, I've got frozen washcloths at the ready for his chewing fits.

vegetable pie and baked apples

Yesterday I made vegetable pie and baked apples, mmmmm. I modified the vegetable pie recipe (from here) a little bit and added zucchini and a tiny bit of flour instead of bread crumbs. I made a simple crust for it (recipe here) and it won rave reviews. I was into crust making for the vegetable pie, so I made an apple pie for my dad while I was at it. And while I was dealing with apples, I cored some and baked them, stuffed with a mix of cranberries, walnuts, orange juice and brown sugar.

In other news, Phillip is back to sleeping through the night! I'm not exactly sure what the disruption was about, but we've been filling him up with milk and he's been sleeping through. So that's a glorious thing. Now to get ready for this afternoon's crafting!

chalkboard

This chalkboard in our kitchen used to be a garish gold framed mirror. I bought it because it was cheap, and painted the frame black. Mirror falls off of wall, becomes useless, Sherrie takes backing and paints it with chalkboard paint to render it useful once more. Definitely one of the cheapest, easiest, and best little projects in our house. Certainly the most practical, as you can see from the abundance of notes to self and lists (yay, lists!) on it at the moment.

photos du jour from around the house

I've been playing with Adam's camera again! The last photo is a fabulous little ceramic container which MIL bought for me at Value Village. I've been keeping garlic in it, but it seems too large for that to be its intended purpose. Any other ideas?

swedish roll up blind

I made this blind for Phillip's room over the past couple of days - it only took a total of about 3 hours (it would have been less if I had been better prepared and didn't have to keep running around to find things I needed). The pattern is from Simple Soft Furnishings, a book which has some really lovely home sewing projects. This one certainly was simple, and I love the finished blind. I especially like how the back rolls up on the front, so you see the backing material. The only thing I'm a little bit disappointed with is that with the light behind it, you kind of see through the brown and blue. I loved the material when I found it and wondered how much I was going to like it with Phillip's green walls, but it is divine! I'm working on a fabric wall art project thingy for over his change table, which will bring it all together. I'll post pics when that's done (hopefully after the crafting session tomorrow), and then you can see why it's not such a horrendous colour combination.

snowsuit

If you were walking the streets of Yarmouth yesterday, you may have seen this pair of feet approaching.

Upon closer investigation, you may have seen this:And this little guy was hiding inside!
It was a day of firsts - it was the first time Phillip sat forward-facing in his stroller, which makes it a LOT easier to manoeuvre. It also means that I can't see his face without walking around front, which makes me just the tiniest bit sad. It was also Phillip's first time in a snowsuit, as it was a pretty chilly afternoon for a walk, so we wanted him well bundled. I love that the shade on the stroller goes right down to cover Phillip up, and he has a little window for peeking out of! I didn't realize until we tried him out in it that it was so cleverly designed. I love this stroller!

applesauce and lovely links

I dried some more apples and made another batch of applesauce. Mmmmmm.

I've been thinking for awhile about how horrified I would be if my blog suddenly disappeared and I lost all of my thoughts and pictures. I just saw a link on Vera's blog that interests me very much - I might very well do this, even if I only make a book of the Phillip parts of the blog.

Eren has a great post about handmade holidays here. To encourage more handmade-ness this holiday season, I'm hosting a Christmas crafting afternoon next week. Should be fun! I'm trying to buy only useful items if I'm buying pre-made things for people this Christmas, and I'm going to be making some (also useful) things, too. Are you doing anything handmade this Christmas?

babyness

Every now and then the babyness of Phillip completely overwhelms me. Sleep smiles, chubby little fists clenching everything his hands come in contact with, chubby cheeks that aren't old and squishy like adult ones but are firm and kissalicious, thigh rolls and feet that have fat on top, that amazing smell (and the not so amazing other smells)... I love every giggle and gummy smile, every single minute of drinking it all in.

mavillette 1, 2, 3

We went to Mavillette Beach on Sunday to see the waves after Saturday night's storm. It was still incredibly windy, and the waves were quite rough, although that's difficult to tell from these photos. We had some lunch and took some pictures- it was a lovely outing!

after a bath

Phillip was very excited to have some sock-free toe gnawing time after his bath this evening.

frosty morning

Don't you think this grass looks just like the grass is described in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'? (I'm thinking of the book, but movie sound clips will do.)


The mornings have been frosty and lovely this week.

P-man and the woollen elephant

But first, my favourite ears.

Phillip loves this beautiful woollen elephant, made just for him by a relative. He doesn't have a name, though... any suggestions?

pomegranate

I was carrying Phillip in his wrap while getting groceries this week, and he had his eye firmly on the pomegranates. So I picked one up, and am once again surprised by how beautiful food can be.

the winner is...

With all of the commotion over this storm (which is bringing wind and rain as I type) I forgot that today is Saturday and the day of the draw! Annie is the winner, and for those of you who don't know, Annie is a dear friend and lives about 7 minutes from me, so no shipping costs for this one! Don't worry - the draw wasn't rigged. Congratulations, Annie! I'll be in touch.

grilled veggie sandwich

While we still have power (hurricane Noel is on its way as a post-tropical storm) we made some absolutely divine sandwiches for lunch. Sorry the picture's a bit blurry; since the sandwich is long gone, I can't go back and take another. The original recipe is here; I modified it slightly into this:

Grilled Veggie Sandwich

mayo & mustard (1/8 cup-ish of each)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 c olive oil
1 small red pepper, sliced
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 onion, sliced
grated or crumbled cheese (Adam had cheddar, I had feta, both were delicious!)
baguette, sliced lengthwise

In a bowl, mix mayo, mustard, and minced garlic. Set aside.

Preheat broiler to high.

Drizzle olive oil over sliced vegetables; stir. Cook until soft and grilled-looking.

Spread mayo mixture and cheese on bread and broil until melted. Top with veggies, and broil until heated through. This can be enjoyed open faced or smushed together. You can add any other veggies you like, such as yellow peppers, or squash. Enjoy!

birthday card

I made this card for a friend's birthday - hope that you have a lovely day, AC!

tea tray

I found this hideous tea tray at Frenchy's this morning, while looking for a snowsuit for Phillip, which I found (yay!) for $4.00 (double yay!) A little bit of contact paper (which I got for $1.75 a few weeks ago) and voila! A much nicer tea tray. It will make fewer trips from living room to kitchen when guests are here. Does anyone have tips on getting the contact paper absolutely flat without going out of your mind? I tried applying it slowly with a flat edge as I peeled the backing off, but I still got some bubbles, even after several tries. Any other tips? I also thought the tray would look nice tiled or painted. Maybe those are in its future.

vanilla extract

I'm trying my hand at making vanilla extract today.

happy halloween

isn't it about time for some baby pictures?

Those are his eyelashes catching the light!


It's tricky to get this guy to hold still long enough to take a decent picture! But look at those eyes!