Write On It!

We have a room in our house that we call the "study"...it's all macho and serious (aren't studies suppose to be?!). But since I'm the only one who uses it, I've decided to convert it into my craft room where Isabel and I can hang out.

And there's an idea that I've seen circulating all over blogland for the past few years that I've been meaning to try...

See this boring corner (with the dingy door, GOLD door hinges and silver doorknob? I'm not refering to the mess!)

A little bit of puttering at night, and we have this:

A fun little chalkboard door where I can keep my to-do lists

And where Isabel can scribble and draw to her heart's content!

It's suppose to be magnetic too, but the magnetic paint didn't work...a little bummed about that.

A Necessary Evil?

This is the face my daughter gets when she's in front of a TV:

Almost every evening, when she comes back from daycare, she'll now try to climb on the couch and then will proceed to grab the remotes so that she can turn on the TV

It's awful.

We only let her watch Sprout, which is an "educational" channel for toddlers/young kids. Still.....

I hate that zoned-out look.

But it's so useful when I'm trying to get dinner ready, so that she won't be hanging onto my legs.

p/s: These are old pictures. Those are old scars....the eczema's gone, thanks to some hydrocortisone ointment. And the under-eye one is from when she fell on a toy at daycare.

Doctor, Doctor

Future doctor?

She's loves to imitate and "pretend"

And she has a tendency to try and hog carry too many things at once

Definitely needs to utilize bags

Future bagfashionista?

Once she's all packed up, she waved her goodbyes

Little stinker.

 

OUTFIT: When I got this Asian-inspired fabric from Tanya Whelan's Dolce line (love that whole collection!) I HAD to make it into a kimono.

Not terribly creative, I know. But then again, I never claimed that I was!

NEWS FLASH!

My kid said "I love you" to me this morning (or some variation of it) after I said it. She stopped drinking her bottle, said "Ilove-y", then went right back to drinking her milk.

However, I couldn't get her to repeat it. She says "cookie" readily enough though.

A Request

Since Isabel was born, I've been trying my best to incorporate cloth diapers whenever possible. But with daycare, and running around out of the homefront, we do use a good amount of disposables.

However, I still keep trying. Even though it's not necessarily cheaper, and it's definitely not as convenient as disposables, I'm still a big believer in cloth.

We have helped prevent maybe about 150 disposable diapers from filling the landfills? Not a huge amount by any means, but every little bit counts. And I intend to keep trying.

Image from http://wellsy.files.wordpress.com

Tomorrow is Earth Day.

Please do what you can to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Children like Isabel are counting on you.

Last One..

On Easter Sunday, we went to spend some time with my aunt and her family, so Isabel got to play with her "uncle"

Isabel was quite the ham...I'd say that they ignored each other 90% of the time

She was more interested in looking at the flower bushes...

Going through his Easter bucket...

Taking off with his Easter bucket...

And gnawing on his toys...

And that, my dear, wraps up all Easter related activities...

Until next year!

Retaliation!

Mother Nature is throwing us a curveball this week...the temperature is going to drop to 45 degrees tomorrow. Gak!

In retaliation (and to keep myself in blissful denial), I pulled out this gorgeous fabric that reminds me of summertime and lollipops, and made Isabel a Market Skirt

How odd would it be if I made one for myself? So tempting....

All Aboard!

Baby girl got to go on her first train ride during Easter weekend.

It's an old train station that has been turned into a museum, with occasional special rides. I could have sworn that this is where Thomas the Train was born, but I was sadly wrong.

It used to be quite the hub back in the day, due to all the factories that were located nearby.

But sadly, those were days of the past.

We rode on original 1920s coaches, for a "scenic" ride. All the conductors were dressed in the appropriate 1920s garb.

Doesn't it remind you of "The Polar Express"?

Isabel was fascinated with the people watching

And looking out the window

And hamming it up with the other kids

Even though she had to stand on her tippy toes to see over the seat...

However, when the "highlight" of the trip came...

See her try to get away from the giant Easter Bunny

And Daddy pushing her back to her seat

She's much happier hanging out with Momma

And cardboard bunnies are less scary

Hubby had fun doing the "man" thing of looking at engines and stuff

Isabel just tagged along for the walk

What it is with guys and engines?

And I still think that it would have been the ideal birthplace for Thomas. The town even has a 5&10 store! Totally reminds me of Breakfast at Tiffany's

Fascinating!

Third Time's The Charm

I bought 2 more patterns from Keyka Lou during her sale - I've had my eye on the Curvy Clutch for awhile now, and took the plunge during the sale.

It was a pain in the neck.

Because I was using the wrong interfacing.

And then no interfacing.

And finally, found one that worked.

It's the perfect size to carry around my wallet essentials (I'm using it as a wallet) and can accomodate my cellphone and keys perfectly too.

I'm going to try and enlarge the pattern for a bigger clutch.

Just because I'm a glutton for punishment I can.

Freaky or Cute?

Saw this over at Ish and Chi today, and I had to try it, since I'm very much into anything that will serve as a reminder to Isabel of her heritage (although these are Japanese influenced, not Chinese)

I don't know...I think their eyes turned out way slanty, making them look a little mean

The fan is definitely my favourite part!

(the Modge Podge had yet to dry on the base of the fan, hence that funky white stuff)

Egg Hunt

We take our egg hunt very seriously around here

Because if you're really lucky...

You'll have a surprise waiting for you...

(hahahahah...smart as it seems, it was purely coincidental. It was not planned to have a chick in the egg. It just happened)

And with all serious expeditions, you need some canine assistance to sniff the bad eggs from the good (sorry, I'm full of bad humor tonight! It's especially funny to me because my dog probably can't sniff a chicken out even if it ran right in front of him)

Bibberly-Cheese, I think we've struck...cheese!

Oh, happy day!

Always love a successful mission!