Monday, June 29, 2009

Photo of the Day June 29th

A "Morning Glory" update!
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As discussed in previous posts here and here, Sophie planted some Morning Glory seeds at preschool a while back and as a result we have our first ever living green thing in our home. My mother has a wonderful green thumb which I certainly did not inherit, but it seems maybe Sophie did... we've now had this plant for a record-breaking three months and not only is it still alive but it's thriving. We've repotted it several times and now that the warmer weather has arrived we've given it a spot on our Westward-facing front porch so it can soak up the afternoon and evening sun. This morning Sophie was over the moon when she saw that it had finally bloomed its very first flower, in a lovely shade of blue (we had no idea what colour the flowers might be.) I must look up how long the blooming season for a Morning Glory is so I can let her know how long the flowers are likely to last...
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Sunday, June 28, 2009

Photo of the Day June 28th


One of my favourite days of the month has come... it's the day my reading group "How Novel" gets together to discuss our latest book. Always a fun evening, it brings a diverse and truly wonderful group of women together at one of our homes to share a few glasses of wine and some munchies while discussing whatever book our hostess selected for us that month. Tonight we were chatting about the vampire-romance phenomenon Twilight, complete with lasagna ("We're making Italiano for you Bella." - Esme), juicy red apples and a book-shaped cake care of our hostess Jen. In recognition of the theme of the evening I made my fellow reading group members a little keepsake - book marks to hold their spot while they delve into the next book in the Twilight series (which they've all either already read or plan to read.) The quote, if you're not familiar with it, is taken directly from the novel and describes the relationship of the two main characters - the Vampire Edward and his human love Bella.
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Photo of the Day June 27th


The London Fringe Theatre Festival has been going on all week, and despite our love of theatre in general and this festival in particular we haven't been able to catch a show yet. Today is the day we finally change that... I entered an online contest yesterday and won two tickets to any Fringe performance, two "backer buttons" (shown above - without them you cannot attend any of the Fringe shows), and $70 "Downtown Dollars" that I can redeem at over 45 downtown London businesses. Super exciting!!! To celebrate I took Sophie to the Wolf Performance Hall to see Panda's Dream, a beautiful show performed by young Chinese dancers. We were both captivated by the costumes, the choreography, the music and of course the beautiful dancing... Sophie's asked if we can go back and see it again tomorrow, and since I told her that the dance studio that performed this show are from Hamilton she also asked if there's a place she could learn Chinese dancing in London. Who knows? This may be the start of a new passion for her...
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Photo of the Day June 26th


Whenever we're cooking we try to involve Sophie in the process, to give her not only an understanding of how food comes to be on our table at dinner time, but also to give her a sense of "ownership" regarding the meal. If she's had a hand in making something she's more likely to want to taste it - it's our subtle way of encouraging her to try new things. Today we're making two pots of chili, and Sophie did a great job helping with the preparation. She washed the peppers, poured the oil in the pots, and filled her own chili pot with the selection of ingredients she thought would taste the best (naturally she skipped the onion and jalapeno peppers). I let her fill the pots on the stove before turning any of the burners on and then "excused her" from kitchen duty when things started to heat up. To show her the difference between how the chili looks at the beginning of the cooking process and the end I've been lifting her up in my arms so we can stand at a safe distance from the stove and talk about how much vegetable broth has been absorbed by the beans, and why. It's a great learning experience that should conclude tastily at dinner time!
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Thursday, June 25, 2009

Photo of the Day June 25th


Today marks the end of what seemed like a very short visit with my Dad, who flew in from Montreal last week. Sophie loved spending time with her Grampa while he was here (she even got him to play Barbies with her - super exciting stuff!) and I know she'll be asking why he can't come over to play with her now that he's gone home. The time we shared was eventful, starting with Dad's birthday dinner on Friday to Father's Day on Sunday and a nice evening spent with my Uncle Raymond and Aunt Maryam on Tuesday... an especially rare occasion since they've been living in Italy for six months and were just passing through on their way back to their home in Edmonton. It's not often that my Albertan, Ontarian and Quebecois family can all be together in one place at one time... now if we could only arrange for my Uncle Alan (from New Brunswick) to somehow be here as well it would be a proper Canada-wide family reunion!
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Photo of the Day June 24th


Sophie's graduation from preschool was this morning and she had quite a cheering section in the audience. Her Grampa (my dad), Nanny (Chris's mom) and her friend Ross, Aunts Laura and Mary, and cousin Courtney joined us to watch Sophie sing four songs with her class on the stage at Calvary. After the "concert" we enjoyed some treats and Sophie got to pick up her diploma and end-of-year project - a super cute Calvary t-shirt that the kids tie-dyed themselves in class last week. It was difficult to get clear photos of the stage from the audience, but I did manage to capture this quick shot while Sophie and a couple of the other kids in her class were about to head into the auditorium for hugs and congratulations from their families. Such a sweet concert (the kids in all three classes were really very good!) and a great way to end her time in 'little kid school'. Next up: the freedom of summer time, her fourth birthday and a couple of fun weeks at "summer camp"... it's great a great time to be a kid!
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Photo of the Day June 23rd


The last day of school brought another first for me (aside from the "how can she possibly be growing up this quickly??? panic) - thank you cards for Sophie's Teachers. She's had a great collection of Teachers at Calvary this year- she started the year in the younger class with Miss Pat and Miss Kim and then moved up to the older class after Christmas where she's been taught by Miss Toni and Miss Sue. Each of her Teachers brought something special to Sophie's education and we're so grateful to all of them for their caring and attention... especially to her most recent Teachers Toni and Sue as they've helped us guide Sophie through her ongoing speech issues. I made "Thank You" cards for them and Sophie delivered them to school on her last day... I'm sure it's the first of many, many Teacher "thank you" cards to come over the years!
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Photo of the Day June 22nd


Today is Sophie's last day of Preschool before her big "graduation ceremony" on Wednesday, and I thought I would end the year the same way I started it - with a photo of Sophie heading off to school with her sweet little giraffe backpack on. The backpack was a gift from my mother (or "Red Haired Grandma" as Sophie has dubbed her) and she's worn it every day to school. We've been told that it probably won't be big enough for her JK supplies in the fall so I want to enjoy every last minute of her wearing it around - it's so sweet and just the right size for her little back. The last day of school at Calvary... the end of her "little kid school" and the start of "big kid school" in the autumn. My goodness it seems to go by fast!
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Photo of the Day June 21st


As mentioned in a previous post, my father is in Ontario visiting us from (too-far-away) Montreal right now, and since we were planning a visit to Wallaceburg to visit my Grandmother in June we decided to wait until he was here to make the road trip. Today was a great day for such a drive, and after stopping for breakfast and coffee we hit the road. Grandma lives at Fairfield Retirement Home and when walking through you notice lots of little public spaces and nice cozy areas to tuck in for a visit if you feel like leaving the resident's room... Sophie's always anxious to head out for a ride on my Grandmother's lap to visit the birds that live at the home, and we often enjoy our visits with the chattering of budgies in the background as a result. Here, Sophie and Grandma enjoy a cuddle after making the grand tour and before heading to lunch...
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Saturday, June 20, 2009

Photo(s) of the Day June 20th

You know that old saying "It's Quiet... Too Quiet"?
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One of our "house rules" is that Sophie is not allowed to get up and start her day until 7:30am, so if she wakes up and starts calling for us at 7:00, we'll go to her door and remind her that we're not going to let her come out of her room until that magic time. Then we tumble back to bed for a few more minutes of much-needed sleep until she gets bored of playing and starts calling again.
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Her room is a nirvana of playthings including a bookshelf full of books, several small toy boxes, about a hundred stuffed animals and her large craft bin, so it's not as though she has to wait around bored for half an hour... and she usually handles it quite well. After this morning's 7:15am wake up call I went back to bed expecting to hear her call again within the normal 20 minutes or so, and was shocked when I woke up all on my own just after 8:30am. I lay in bed listening to the quiet for a few minutes before starting to think "uh oh" (should I have realized something was probably up a bit quicker? Probably. I blame being only half-awake.) She must have heard my footsteps as I scurried off to her room because she called out "HI MOM - LOOK AT MY PAINTING!" from behind her door. Um... painting? I stood outside her room collecting myself for a moment, looking at the drips of paint pouring down between the slats of her door...
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After a firm reminder that painting is to be done only on paper and only at the dining room table, Sophie and I spent a while washing the finger paint from her wardrobe, dresser and door. In the process: big apologies to Mommy and an assurance that from now on she will NOT paint without talking to me about it first. In addition to that little artistic experiment, she also found a box of 200 Easter stickers in her craft bin and entertained herself by sticking them all over her room... the entire box of them. When I talked to her about taking them down she explained that she only wanted to make her room look "pretty", and that if we took them off it "would make the furniture sad". After testing to make sure they come off easily (thank goodness for not-so-sticky stickers!) we agreed to leave them up for a couple of days, which is why I managed to capture them as our photo-of-the-day... the paint came off before I had the presence of mind to grab the camera. I wonder if that extra bit of sleep was worth it?
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Photo of the Day June 19th

Happy Birthday Dad!

One of the reasons for my Dad's visit to Ontario is his birthday... we had hoped to visit him for a few days but weren't sure if we could actually make it to Montreal this week. It was a nice surprise that he was able to get away from work and visit us here, and once we rested up from our long day in Toronto on Thursday we enjoyed much of his birthday together. Sophie, Dad and I went to the Covent Garden Market in the afternoon and picked up some pretty impressive T-bone steaks from Chris's Country Cuts followed by asparagus, green beans, elephant garlic and mushrooms from Havaris Produce. Once we arrived home it was cupcake making time, with Sophie as my little helper. She loves helping in the kitchen, and is very proud of the hard work she put in to mixing the cupcake batter ingredients and putting on the sprinkles! Since we planned on a late dinner for the grown-ups we popped a candle in one of the cupcakes and sang "happy birthday" to Grampa before Sophie went to bed... a nice way to end Sophie's day and start the evening for the older folks!
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Photo of the Day June 18th


Road Trip! We spent today in Toronto, inspired by picking my father up from the airport at 9 o'clock this evening. It was a great opportunity to visit the big city, since most of our "what-do-you-want-to-do-today?" road trips take us toward places like Grand Bend or Port Stanley. The largest part of our day was spent at the Ontario Science Centre, with a side-trip to Yorkdale for some shopping before heading to the airport. Sophie had a blast despite being completely exhausted by everything we did at the Science Centre (including our long and active visit in the KidSpark play area, shown above). Here normal bed time is between 7:15 - 7:30pm and it was close to 10pm when she finally passed out in the car on the way home.
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Photo of the Day June 17th


Rhys and Rowan were here today, and Sophie had been so looking forward to Rhys coming over that I think she went a little crazy when he arrived. The two of them ran around the house like kids possessed with Rowan toddling after them trying to copy their frantic movements... it was crazy, and an awful lot of fun to watch. After Rowan's much-needed morning nap (it takes a lot of energy to run around after the bigger kids!) I asked Sophie and Rhys if they wanted to be the ones to go wake him up... the resulting play and cuddle time had Rowan in a fit of giggles that inspired me to grab the camera.
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Photo of the Day June 16th


Yesterday I took the final steps to prepare for Sophie's big birthday party on July 18th, confirming our reservation with the party planner at the London Regional Children's Museum and making Sophie's party invitations. In the process of booking the party I decided to purchase a Family Membership to the Museum, since having one gives you a discount on parties as well as free admission to other Ontario attractions like the Science Centre (where we were thinking of going on Thursday). I needed to pop by there today to pick up our membership card and review the final party details... and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to let Sophie spend a few hours enjoying the Museum. Sophie was thrilled, and we spent close to three hours exploring the various exhibits, including about 45 minutes in the Space area playing with the mini Canadarm and watching the "Star Show" in the planetarium. As we were making our way toward the exit I caught this picture of Sophie, peek-a-booing her way through the car wash in the "Street Where I Live" area. I have the feeling our membership to the museum will be well used over the next year!
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Monday, June 15, 2009

Photo of the Day June 15th

Cookies Part 2!
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After decorating the 16 cookies we needed to send to Calvary with Sophie for her "pretend birthday", I had icing left over and a few drops of food colouring still in the bottom of my little bowls. I hate to waste anything, so I decided to make a couple special cookies for after dinner tonight. For me, a pretty vine pattern peppered with tiny blue flowers... for Chris, bamboo shoots and the Chinese characters for "love"... and for Sophie, a trio of flowers sprouting up from the grass (like those two mystery tulips in our yard). We're having left over lasagna for dinner tonight, so having both dinner and dessert already made will make for a nice relaxing afternoon/evening... and a very pretty end to our meal!
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Photo of the Day June 14th

Cookies, Part 1!
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Tomorrow's a big day for Sophie at Calvary Nursery School... all the children who have birthdays in the summer time are given a day during the last week of school to celebrate their birthday with the class, and Monday belongs to Sophie. In preparation for her special day we made cookies to share with the class - simple sugar cookies shaped like hearts, but with a lovely marbling technique on the icing. I used Royal icing so I know they will harden nicely and keep their pretty patterns during the trip to school... Sophie can't wait to hand them out to all her friends!
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Saturday, June 13, 2009

Photo of the Day June 13th


A large portion of our day today seemed to revolve around food in one form or another... after making breakfast this morning we went to the Western Fair Farmers Market to buy fresh produce (and a side of ribs) from some local farms and suppliers, then spent much of the afternoon working on dinner. Chris baked a truly lovely home-made beer batter cheese bread with fresh chives from our garden, and I made a tasty lentil and barley soup with spinach, and a side salad. A great, healthy meal full of flavour, which we were able to share together before Chris had to head off to work for the night. An added bonus: there's lots of leftover bread and soup, so I know I have a nice lunch to look forward to tomorrow!
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Friday, June 12, 2009

Photo of the Day June 12th


Sophie's JK Orientation was today (yes, she's actually going into JK in the fall!), and it was a very interesting experience for me. She's going to be going to Tecumseh PS, which is not only right in our neighbourhood but is also the public school I've been volunteering at for several years as a member of School Council and editor of the school newsletter. Then there's the fact I spent my Grades 6 through 8 years as a student at Tecumseh, so I have a real comfort level with the school on a lot of levels. That combined with the fact that Sophie's been in preschool three mornings a week this year lead me to believe that I would have no problem at all with preparing her to move on to "big kid school"... so why was I a nervous wreck today? The day started fine, but as I was getting ready for her to return home from preschool (making lunches, cleaning up her shoes from where they were scattered in the hall) I started to get a bit twitchy... and by the time Chris returned home from a grocery run my hands were actually shaking. I have no idea what exactly was making me nervous about the experience, since we talked about the "big" things and I ruled them all out (Will she like her teacher? Ms. Orr is fabulous, and Sophie likes everybody! Will she make friends? She's so outgoing that she'll just walk up and start talking to who ever she feels like talking to... and like I said, she likes everybody...) After much debate I have to assume my trouble comes from acknowledging that Sophie is almost school-aged. Time has passed. My baby is growing up, and doing so faster than I'm prepared for. Sigh. I know this is a realization that parents everywhere have had, and I've had it too in bits and pieces... but something about "big kid school" really drove it home. It just goes by so fast...
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Photo of the Day June 11th


We had nice evening with Chris's sister Mary and her daughter Courtney tonight... a relaxed visit, great conversation, play time with Sophie, and a make-your-own pizza dinner. It's one of my favourite meals to serve for a casual lunch or dinner with company, because everyone can be involved in putting dinner together - even the kids. Another bonus: there's no debate over pizza toppings the way there is when you order one in (one person hates onion but wants pineapple, another hates pineapple but was really hoping for onions and olives, a third wants only cheese - you know, you've been there!) This is a particular issue in my home, since I'm a vegetarian and Chris is a meat-lover... we usually end up ordering two pizzas and having leftovers the next day, because our pizza tastes are so dramatically different. So make-your-own-pizza is the perfect solution... we put out many bowls full of pizza toppings (some faves: roasted garlic, feta cheese, fresh spinach), line baking sheets with Greek pita (the kind without a pocket), pour on the pizza sauce and then let people go to work building their own pizza masterpiece. Custom dinners, happy guests, and a fun project to boot... you can't beat that!
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Thursday, June 11, 2009

Photo of the Day June 10th


I've been working as a Demonstrator for Stampin' Up for about a year now (shocking that it's been that long) and I've been evaluating how I run my business and thinking of making some changes lately. I was a Stampin' Up customer long before I became a Demonstrator, and I love the products... lots of great rubber stamps sold in coordinating sets, amazing papers, and cool accessories (I'm such a sucker for beautiful ribbons and baubles!) My struggle lies in the fact that I don't love the Sales "environment"... quotas, upselling techniques, the idea of pressuring people, etc. I figure live is too short to spend your time doing something that makes you uncomfortable, even if it is for money (that oh-so-great motivator)! So I'm probably the best Demonstrator possible for people who hate being pressured to buy something - I simply won't do it, despite the fact my business may suffer as a result. When I first started planning classes I restricted myself to using only Stampin' Up products, since my association with Stampin' Up is what inspired me to start teaching from my home in the first place. And I do have those nasty quotas to fulfill, so I figure that using the products in my classes might help inspire attendees to purchase them - which is a good thing for my business. That said, it's the teaching I love... I have such a great time being in a room full of people, knowing I can share something with them that I love, seeing them get the hang of a new technique, sharing their sense of pride when they look at something they've made and say "I can't believe I did that!!". I've lately had a (mini) revelation... if I'm planning and teaching these classes because I love the creative arts and I have such a great time sharing that passion with others, why do I need to stay within the Stampin' Up "box" (for lack of a better word)? I've often said that my motivation for becoming a Demonstrator was to have an excuse to make the time to be creative, instead of putting it on the back burner as an enjoyable but lower priority task than say, laundry and grocery shopping... the creativity was always the key in that equation, not the idea of making a commission (although yes, that would be nice!) So, for the class I taught this evening called Wine-y Wednesday I let myself "out of the box"... I used some Stampin' Up punches and paper, but incorporated glass etching cream from Michaels and a few great dollar store finds too... then I uncorked a couple of bottles of wine (the name of the class probably gave that away) and let the chips fall where they may. Not only was this one of the most enjoyable, relaxed classes I've taught recently, but I ended up making money and generating Stampin' Up sales at it too... go figure. I'll have to see if this new theory of mine works in future classes I plan as well!
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Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Photo of the Day June 9th


Chris is working this morning, so when Sophie woke up (too early for my tastes) I had her crawl into bed with me for cuddles... and to buy myself more horizontal time! We were talking about what to have for breakfast and she came up with a rather thorough description of "pancakes, shaped like hearts, with little eyes and smiley faces on them". She was very serious about this description (there were hand gestures involved and everything!) so I decided to try and fulfill her request... she was absolutely delighted. My only concern: what will she ask for tomorrow morning?
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Monday, June 8, 2009

Photo of the Day June 8th


It's a raining today so Rowan, Sophie and I got quite wet coming home from preschool this morning. Once we got home, the kids and I decided to strip off our wet coats and boots and play out on the porch for a bit before heading inside for lunch... it's a good opportunity to blow off some steam and watch people walk up and down the street while not getting any wetter. In the midst of the rain a small patch of sunlight cut through the clouds and filtered a bit of light into our yard - I snapped this shot of the glistening raindrops (which almost look like snow) on one of the bushes beside the porch.
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Sunday, June 7, 2009

Photo of the Day June 7th

Saddle up!

We took Sophie to Ilderton this morning to see a horse show, and spent most of the afternoon hanging around with horsey folks and enjoying the atmosphere. I don't know a lot about horse shows, so I spent most of my time looking at how pretty they looked and how gosh-darned spangly many of the riders' uniforms are. I know the "horse people" that were at the event were looking at things like gait and how the horses held their heads, whether they responded properly to commands, etc. but as a casual spectator that's all a bit out of my league. I have received a bit of a horse-show-preparation education thanks to Linda, who was riding in today's show and was one of the reasons we decided to go. Did you know that show horses wear tail extensions, for example? Or that their hooves are painted before going in the ring? It's a whole new world, I tell ya! We enjoyed chatting with Linda before her performance, and also enjoyed a visit with Sophie's school friend Matt and his Mom Stephanie, who were at the event cheering on Matt's Grandpa. It was a nice social day in a new setting for us... we're checking the schedule and may head back to Ilderton for another show later in the summer.
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Photo of the Day June 6th


We enjoyed an Old South tradition today, attending the 27th annual Gathering on the Green. The grounds of the Monsignor Feeney Centre (also known as the "Normal School") are full of vendors selling home made crafts, musicians, yummy food, a tea garden, and lots of great games for kids. It's such a fun community event... I remember attending it when I was a child, which makes taking Sophie just that much nicer. I snapped this picture of her while we were sitting on the grass by the mini-put, listening to some amazingly talented eleven-year-old kids in a rock band called U-Turn. Cuddled up with Mom, enjoying her sno-cone and surrounded by sunshine, music and fun... definitely one of Sophie's "happy places".
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Photo of the Day June 5th


There is nothing quite like the look of unadulterated joy on the face of a child at a splash pad! Chris took Sophie down to Ivy Park while I was hard at work on the Tecumseh Public School newsletter this afternoon, and despite being tired from a very busy day she had an absolute ball. She's so funny with splash pads... she loves the "idea" of them but avoids actually getting her body wet at all costs. I think secretly she loves the adrenaline rush of shrieking and running away from the shooting/pouring water more than playing in the water itself!
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Thursday, June 4, 2009

Photo of the Day June 4th


Sophie and I went for a walk yesterday afternoon... or more precisely, I walked while Sophie rode her tricycle. She loves riding her bike, and has stamina that never ceases to impress me. She's ridden all the way to Tucky's (our local hardware store) and back, and that's over 10 blocks each way... and when we got home she complained about having to get off the bike! This walk was shorter - we went on a meandering 10 - 12 block route through our neighbourhood. Along the way we "stopped to smell the roses" (and any other flower we could find) which lead to her pick some small white clovers. When I noticed how difficult it was for her to hold them while steering straight, I fashioned a small tie from the stem of one flower and mounted them on her handle bars. Such a pretty, girly embellishment for her rough and tumble bike... natures answer to those bright plastic handle bar streamers. 
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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Photo of the Day June 3rd

Sophie's First, Second, and Third Birthday angels... gifts from Aunt Kathy and "Unca" Wayne.
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We've been researching venues for Sophie's birthday party today. We kept her first three birthdays quite low-key... some times we were away at a cottage, and when we were home we simply invited family over for dinner and cake. However, she attended her first-ever "kids" birthday party earlier this year and immediately started asking if she could invite her friends for a birthday party this year. We decided to go for it... and with her year at preschool coming to an end in a few weeks we want to nail down the details as soon as possible so we can invite some of her school friends. Up for debate: Kidscape (where her friend Lily's birthday party was held), Storybook Gardens (one of Sophie's favourite places), and the London Regional Children's Museum (another fave, and I believe the "winner" after all our birthday-party research.) I'm already surprised at how much research and planning (and money!) goes into a birthday party for 8 four-year-olds... I can only imagine what the next ten years of birthday party planning will look like!
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Photo of the Day June 2nd


A while ago I posted a photo of a very disheveled Sophie, still groggy from sleep but anxiously checking on her little potted Morning Glory to see how it was growing. I'm thrilled to say the little plant is still doing well, and growing taller (much to Sophie's delight) almost every day. In my whole adult life I have never had a plant in my house for this long without it dying from neglect... talk about the transformative power of having a child! I know Sophie would be devastated if it died, so I'm constantly watering it, making sure it gets sun, keeping it out of drafts, and so on. My mother's very natural green thumb (I was raised in a house full of plants) may have skipped me, but her instinct to keep her child happy certainly didn't. 
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Monday, June 1, 2009

Photo of the Day June 1st


I've recently planned a series of card-making classes called "Inspired By...", where I plan to design cards inspired by everything from popular culture icons to movies to literature. I've scheduled my first one, called "Inspired By... Book Club", where I'll use the art and emotion created by three books I've read recently with my "How Novel" reading group as inspiration for cards. Today I worked on the card inspired by the vampire romance novel Twilight, and am sooooooo pleased with the results. The cover has a removable book mark complete with a quote from the novel, and the whole thing is full of dark, romantic sparkle. 
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