A flurry of outdoor action

A flurry of shopping does not sound like fun to me, oh no.  School is coming up, and with three of them now going in, I have my work cut out for me.  Truth be told, it's mostly the shoes that take up so much time.  Clothes are a more leisurely purchase, but my kids seem to go through shoes with a whirl and a bang.  They wake up and suddenly their shoes no longer fit - NONE of them.  Thank God for summer and sandals, but no such reprieve exists for school where shoes must be worn both inside and out.  

Last week we went to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM).  I've been to the ROM myself before I had kids, but I never realized the treasure trove it would present for young children.  They just loved the exhibits, especially the Egyptian and biodiversity sections.  All those animals, and dinosaurs, and hands on activities!  The blue whale exhibit was among each child's favourites.  I think I will add a membership to the ROM to our Christmas list.  Such a perfect gift!

Prior to the ROM we had been studying ancient Egypt a little.  I use the term "studying" quite loosely.  Our studies have been more self-propelled than anything else.  M especially has been knee deep in pyramids, pharaohs, and hieroglyphics.  After a couple visits to the library and quite a few books later, we built a step pyramid out of sugar cubes and then M calculated the perimeter and area of the base of his.  (We haven't gotten around to volume yet, but it would be perfect for that!)  Later on this week, we will study the effects of the elements (hair dryer and water) on our pyramids. All this to say, our visit to the ROM was well-timed!

With the solar eclipse, there was quite an interest in astronomy last week.  NASA had a nice site set up to watch the eclipse, since we were not in the path of totality.  M made a projector so we could still check things out - we couldn't find glasses last minute.  There are actually several suns in that photo because I think we poked more than one hole in the aluminum square.  Oh well.  We got to see the moon eclipsing the sun without leaving our living room!  M even decorated his projector to show how much further the sun is from the earth than the moon.  He also added some dramatic solar flares.  Loved learning astronomy with him!  Our poor family and friends had to put up with him explaining things over and over.  He was just so into it.

Yesterday we went hiking on the forest trails at Riverwood Conservation.  It's not far from us, though we had to drive there.  The kids loved exploring and digging around for rocks on the paths.  Even baby loved the walking, and she did all of it by herself.  My back can't handle carrying her anymore.  S had found an acorn on the path and when we saw a squirrel sitting on a tree stump, she promptly threw him the acorn.  We then watched as he cautiously retrieved it and ate it up in front of us.  That was pretty cool.  Needless to say S was tickled pink!  That definitely made her day.

Last night I did some work on a blanket I am crocheting.  Blankets are the worst.  It feels like it will never end, or even more, that I am not making any progress.  Sometimes I don't even manage to finish one row in a sitting.  I know I have until Christmas to finish, but most days that feels like too little time!  To be honest, that is not the only thing I am working on.  Of course.  I have started another icon.  Actually I started it a little while ago, but I am recommencing work on it after a break.  My deadline is spring for this project, so it should manage to sort itself out as long as I don't get too carried away adding more projects.

The funny thing is, I've been told that once the kids start school I will have more time for those things.  I will only have baby with me after all.  I anticipate the reverse in fact!  Baby M is such a darling, but totally into everything.  She climbs, she's curious, she likes to touch and taste EVERYTHING.  I cannot leave her for longer than 3 minutes alone.  And for me to bring out paints... I can't imagine what kind of disaster would occur.  No, I think I will have less time, at least for painting anyhow.  But with that sweet little face and chubby hands close by, I doubt I'll mind it too much.

Wishing you a wonderful long weekend!

In the studio and around the home

Lately, we have been eating lots of greens.  Not just salad, I mean.  Spinach with meat and rice (that spinach is from our balcony garden), Mlukheye (wild leaves that we boil with chicken to make a soupy dish that the kids love with rice too), stuffed zucchini, okra with onions and tomato sauce... I love looking into my fridge and seeing all those vivid greens and reds and yellows. 

Last night D went on a bike ride with the little ones.  All three of them.  Doesn't sound like a big deal until you've tried to corral three energetic monkeys on bikes going helter-skelter up hills and around streets.  Nerve-wracking for a parent.  D is as cool as a cucumber.  He offers to take them all so I can have a breather.  Do the dishes in peace.  Finish freezing some extra herbs or berries.  Maybe sit down for a minute and play a tune on the new piano.

We got a new keyboard.  It's not a true piano, but I have a hunch that isn't far behind.  There's only so much you can do with a keyboard, and pedalling is not one.  :)  However, space is an issue here, so keyboard it is for now.  The kids love it and have been begging for "lessons".  Oh yes, little ones, you shall indeed have those!

We went to the petting zoo this past weekend.  The kids love animals, so of course they loved walking around.  Favourites were the deer, the ponies and the bunny rabbits.  And the ducks.  Can't forget the ducks.

There is something about summer work that is pleasant.  Perhaps I am finding it so because D is there to help out in the evenings often, which leaves me a bit of space to plan or execute tricky details.  Or perhaps it's just that time of year and it feels right for this kind of work.  Can't wait till we get in some cucumbers for the pickles!  Perhaps next week...

There are lots of projects happening around here.  Yarn, fabric, wood, food, and music.  Everything that makes life beautiful!  The quilt is almost done.  I stayed up late sewing last night and now I only have the binding left.  I love this simple, rustic style.  It's just a mishmash of old fabrics sewn together in strips - not particularly neatly either.  It just works though.  The kids keep begging me to finish it so they can use it.  I am not sure if I shall leave it for the kids, or keep it as a Christmas gift for a certain special someone, who shall remain nameless.  Perhaps I'll just have to do another one.  And that, my friends, is a happy thought to be sure.  :)

This is a photo of that pink baby sweater.  As you can see, it is now close to completion.  I picked out some sweet wooden buttons with carved flowers on them.  And I have some simple white ones also.  I will probably keep the wooden ones for the grey sweater and use the white for this pink one.  I think.  We'll see when all is said and done.  By the way, most of the progress on this sweater came during morning swimming lessons!  Despite having all the kids with me, even little S, I managed to get at least a couple of rows per day.  Not too shabby.  Now that lessons are finished for the summer, knitting progress may slow.  Especially with all the other projects.  

I am hoping to get back into some iconography before baby arrives, so I have been preparing a few boards these past couple of weeks.  Two of them didn't turn out so well being older, and the gesso wasn't sanding smoothly.  So when the kids asked for their own boards, I was only too happy to oblige.  And they were thrilled!  As you can see, they have their own artistic style.  :)  I am hoping they will agree to a project where we can write a beautiful quote on their boards together, maybe with stencils or something like that.  Then they can give them as gifts, or keep them should they be so inclined.  (Usually I find they like to give away the things they make.  Bless their little hearts!)  

Anyhow.  That's quite an update for me.  Life hasn't been all rosy and gay.  We all have struggles alongside the joys.  In fact, these past two weeks have been particularly trying for some reason.  I find though, that even just a little handiwork is the best medicine for the blues.  Truly.  So, I've been taking as much of that pill as possible.  As you can see!  Hopefully next week there will be some kitchen updates - I do love sharing what's happening in the kitchen!

Happy weekending to you!

The first of many...

Between chores, daily swimming lessons and obligatory meals, I have snuck in the time to start work on my very first patchwork quilt.  What an experience!  It's not very neat, to be sure.  I didn't measure very much while I was cutting.  I was in a hurry to finish cutting and start sewing.  (I don't have a lot of time during the day to focus without little hands and little questions taking over.)  A lot of leftover fabric needed to be used up, so it was the perfect project!  I just need to pick out a nice fabric for the backing and another for the binding.

More updates as this unfolds, but can I just say that I have fallen in love with quilting.  I love it.  I want to make quilts all day.  For now anyway.  (And if someone offered to do the measuring and cutting, well I'd be as happy as can be to sew all day!)  I have two other quilts planned out already and just waiting for a trip to Fabricland.  :)

My 6-year-old learned to whistle a couple weeks ago.  It is now rare NOT to find him whistling.  He whistles when he's breathing, when he wakes up from sleeping, while he's working, building lego, playing chess, walking...  It would be hilarious if it also didn't get slightly annoying!  I am trying to work on my annoyance threshold, so I tolerate it for the most part.  Whistling in church is a no-no, however, as well as during nap time.  There are times though where I can't hold it in and I have to ask him to stop.  He complies directly, but 30 seconds later, he's at it again.  Not because he's being defiant.  He is just that absentminded.  At least about whistling.  Oh well.  More opportunities for me, I suppose.

We snuck in time to make some raspberry jam this week.  We were picking peas and the raspberry patch was right beside us.  The kids and I were practically face-first in the bushes stuffing our mouths with those delicious berries!  I still have one more batch to do and then we'll work on some blueberry jam.  Lots of blueberries around.  Those are our three favourite kinds of jams.  The kids do love peach jam too mind you.  I'm just a little bit paranoid of preserving enough peaches first in jars before we look at any peaches for jam.  (In my books, sliced sunny peaches in the winter beat jam...)

Last weekend we went up to visit some family at their cottage near Lake Simcoe.  They are right on the lake.  Such a beautiful place, and lots of wonderful memories for the kids too.  How they loved being outdoors all day, swimming and playing and boating and being surrounded by love and attention.  God bless family.  We had a long drive on the way home and the kids were out cold in the backseat, leaving D and I a chance to talk peacefully together without interruptions.  Heaven.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend too...

Father Christmas

Today is St. Nicholas's Feast Day.  For some reason, this is about the time we bring out our Nativity figures, decorations and festive hymns and carols.  It is the start of all Christmas preparations, baking, crafting and making.  I actually don't think we ever made it an official tradition.  To me, St. Nicholas is Father Christmas.  He brings Christ's Nativity to our minds so profoundly.  We can't help but stop what we're doing to stand in our hearts by the manger and contemplate with wonder at the King of Heaven become a helpless child.  

This is a feast especially for children.  Ours love the Nativity creche.  Too much in fact.  With all the ball playing, stampeding and general mayhem, we really considered putting it away for this year.  But it's still here.  And every now and then, if you look over, you will see a little one sitting in front of it, gazing at the Child in the manger, or holding His Mother carefully in two hands.  (They have to be touched, don't you know.)

In other non-Christmas news, I am happy to report that the poster of the solar system is done and waiting to be laminated (which might actually take longer than the poster to finish).  M has been asking a lot of questions on the stars and planets, so I figure it's as good a time as any to bust out something visual for the little guy.  He is our little academic.  He is loving school and absorbing french so thoroughly that he doesn't even think when he speaks.  He just talks.  And he is talking in full sentences.  (Although we catch the odd Arabic or English word thrown in every now and then...)  It is good to be a child.  

And I am finished crocheting squares and have moved on to sewing them together.  This particular pattern looks beautiful and I'm debating making another blanket with just this!  (I'm crazy!)  Anyhow, this is so exciting.  Fingers still crossed!  

Hope you have a blessed day!

PS - I found this CD just last week and we've been listening to it non-stop in the car.  M particularly likes it for some reason.  Favourite tracks are 4, 14, and 16... oh and maybe 20 too I think?  

Pigtails

Today I managed to coax J's hair into pigtails.  They're more like paintbrushes than tails... but terribly  cute all the same!  My little girl is getting so big...!!!  

And this is my other constant companion.  She literally spends hours here taking things in, thumping her legs on the floor happily, or rolling around in circles.  (This convenient arrangement allows me to get quite a bit of work done in the kitchen...)

Since Monday is when we "recover" from the weekend, I usually do some light housekeeping.  Vacuuming, dusting, laundry.  That sort of thing.  Especially the laundry.  Laundry is a never-ending story in this house.  There is no day where I can triumphantly proclaim, "It is finished."  Alas.  But I digress.  So I was do a little cleaning with my girls.  I had just made the beds and was vacuuming when I looked over to see J jumping exuberantly on my bed.  My freshly-made bed.  Only it wasn't so "made" anymore.  *sigh*  What is it about cleanliness that magnetically attracts little ones?  If I wash my floors, someone is sure to spill something as soon as I put away the mop.  Is it Murphy's law, or just a kid thing?  

I am working furiously by lamplight most nights trying to finish this blanket project.  Fingers still crossed that it's done for Christmas.  D thinks I've finally gone off the deep end.  As if I'm already not getting enough sleep, I go and sign up for less.  Pssh.  Sleep is overrated, I tell him.  And he shakes his head knowingly.

Bits and pieces

In the interest of falafel and lasagna making, we've given our parsley another haircut.  This is cut #2 since we've moved to the condo and it's pretty exciting for us.  It's a foretaste of my "never having to buy parsley again" excitement - that which a real garden entails.  

We've been having a lot of excitement this past week.  M started school on Monday and we have been adjusting to a new rhythm.  I can remember how terribly disconcerting it is to be thrown into a new situation and left to swim.  My heart swells for this boy of mine.  So brave, so sweet, so eager to please everyone in his own way.  I miss him every moment he's not here.  Even little J feels his absence.  I've caught her calling him on her pretend phone at least twice already.  That was aside from the tears on day 1 when we left the school without her big brother.  Little ones.  They tug at your heart strings in so many ways.

In consideration of each of us and the new adjustments we've been dealing with, I've been taking things very slowly this week.  Lots of snuggles, reading books together, quiet morning conversations, a bit of crocheting before bed...

I thought I'd just share random bits of happiness that have passed my way this past little while.  

• Love this fox by one of my favourite knitters.  She is so talented and her creations are just full of that special homemade touch of sweetness.
• A great farm nearby that we're hoping to visit this season.  
• Chocolate is great with just about everything.  Case in point.  
• This recipe looks absolutely perfect to try out for the gluten-intolerant darlings in our lives.  Got my chickpea flour ground up and ready to boot.  :o)
• Our library cards have already started heating up with several visits in the past two weeks.  I am so grateful for those libraries with kid friendly sections.  Ours is particularly fun for the monkeys.  If you're in the area and you've never checked it out, I heartily recommend you do!
• I feel like Stephanie is living something resembling my dream life.  Such colourful garden produce and such gorgeous projects.  *sigh*
• If I have my way, this is what my weekend will be spent doing.  

 Hope your weekend is restful and rejuvenating.  À la prochaine...

Donut therapy

We have been sick.  Oh yes.  First it was strep throat with a little scarlet fever.  Then it was a viral cold.  Now it's hand, foot and mouth disease.  (Gee, it sounds so much more serious with "disease" at the end!)  The viral cold was actually the worst and we all succumbed, though not all at once.

Our bodies are recovering thankfully and the kids are again sleeping through the night, minus little S of course.  Obviously, it was high time for donuts!  The whole process is actually kind of therapeutic for me, and I try to do it when a bit of quiet reigns in the house. Watching spoonfuls of runny dough swell up in the hot oil to little golden puffs.  Noticing each donut's shape is different and enjoying each unique imperfection.  Sprinkling cinnamon sugar over them and popping one in my mouth while they're still hot.  I don't know why, though I suspect it's the comfort factor, but donuts are best when eaten fresh and warm.  

And since she's been filling my days with so much sunshine, I think it's only fair to share.  

My sweet girl.  How much my heart swells when I see you.  How much you are loved.

Leftovers with style!

After a little nudge from a few well-wishers, I have decided to post a picture of my afgan-in-progress.  Someday it shall be an afgan.  Someday.  If you lack motivation yourself, I do recommend you visit Kristen and check out her recently-completed blanket.  She's quite a whiz with needles.  Needless to say, I'm sure you won't be back here for yarn advice...

In other news, our balcony garden had to be postponed due to a bout of teething.  I'm all for shouldering along, but some days... let me just say it takes a Herculean effort to make it through the day.  Let me just say the latter half of this past week has been a little rough.  So much for smooth sailing!

Something did go right for us last week though.  Oh yes.  Ever so nicely.  My take on taquitos in fact.  It went something like this: I was craving something cheesy (47 days of no dairy can do that to a person) but had quite a bit of chicken leftovers to use up.  Queue this pinterest photo and I was in business!  Except... I didn't have any tortillas lying around and I definitely wasn't going to drive out to the grocery store to buy some.  Enter pita bread.

I must say that these are to-die-for-delicious and not to mention easy-peesy.  Chopped spinach, shredded cheddar, green onions, and leftover chicken.  And baked instead of fried?  The health gurus would approve!

So, next time you have some leftover chicken that looks less than exciting, try these crispy, cheesy babies out and the world will make sense once again.

Disclaimer: This is a recipe for leftover chicken or any meat in fact!  If you're making chicken specifically to try this recipe out, I suggest baking your chicken in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Once the chicken is done, shred it or cut it up into bite-sized chunks.  Also, my quantities are deliberately vague because it's all about your taste.  This is one recipe where you can throw away your spoons and embrace unscientific experimentation.  Just make sure you don't forget the cheese!  

CHEESY CHICKEN TAQUITOS

baked or leftover chicken, shredded (about 2-3 breasts' worth)
200g cheddar cheese, shredded or grated (feel free to up the cheese quotient!)
5-8 Tbsp tzatziki (I'm betting sour cream would work, but the garlic was magic...)
1 bunch spinach, washed and chopped
2-3 stalks green onions, chopped
about 3-4 loaves thin pita bread (white or whole wheat are nice, just don't use Greek pita)

Take each loaf of pita bread and separate it into two halves.  Spread 1 Tbsp (or more) or tzatziki in the middle.  Take shredded chicken pieces and line up along tzatziki trail.  Sprinkle spinach, onions and cheese on top.  Roll up into a tight sandwich and bake in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 10-12 minutes.  Serve hot.  Makes 6-8 sandwiches.

Sand, rocks dirt & sun

Sand, rocks, dirt and sun.  That pretty much sums up the past three days for us.  Ever since the weather gods decided to skip March and most of April, we've been enjoying summer-like temperatures!  Of course, the irony is a little thick... it being the first day of the SPRING equinox and all.  Only, it seems as though spring took a vacation this year.  

The kids just LOVE the weather.  J has been hiking up little hills, tasting sand, pointing out ants on the sidewalk, and obsessing over the millions of dogs that have suddenly appeared.  M spends his time climbing mostly.  Climbing rocks, climbing play structures, climbing hills.  Also, he is desperately trying to find a friend for Slimy.  He spent most of our morning walk hunting around in the grass.  Our search recommences this evening after dinner...

Needless to say with all this that our time indoors is at an all-time low.  :o)  No complaints from my corner.  Certainly none from the kids!  In fact, it doesn't seem like they have much energy to complain - minus Miss J's characteristic whining that is.  And M, well, he's usually asleep once head and pillow make contact.    

What limited inside time does mean is that my crocheting time has dipped significantly into the "1-row-a-day-before-jumping-into-bed" territory.  Don't judge my enthusiasm for my new hobby by these results.  I love crocheting.  Deeply.  Someday I will vie for greatness alongside Jill, Emily and Julie.  

Until then, I'll be here.  One row at a time.  And preferably after bath time.  

Happy Spring!