Things are looking up...

Hi. I know I haven't written here in while. I was struck with a bad case of writer's block. It seems to have abated for now. Things are good.  Things are better. Alex and I are no longer plagued with an unending cough and the fatigue that goes with it. I'm busy. He's BUSY. Too much for one post. These pictures pretty much sum up my life right now.

 

13149 days old

I don't feel a day over 13000 days old :)
Yep it's my birthday. I turn 36 today. It's not so bad, at least it's not 40 (husband turned the 4-0 this year).
Alex shares the same birthday as people like His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Frida Kahlo, Sylvester Stalone. Who do I share a birthday with?
George Hamilton who is known for his great tan and not so great acting. And this "knight"...Sir Mix A Lot.

Dance it up and shake your booty on my birthday! You're only as young as the music you listen to.

A bit of summer fun!

The second long weekend in a row and this past weekend was enjoyable. It was nice out and we got to enjoy it as a family. It's been a while. We went up to Mount-Royal which is a huge park in the middle of the city (we locals call it a mountain even though it's only 800 ft tall).

We did the gentle walk up and the steep down the stairs straight into downtown path.

Best way to see the mountain.

View from the top. (Could I be any more freckled?)

A little soccer after our picnic lunch.

Oh the climbing!

We even had time to discover a new element. Alexonium.

 The playground on the mountain was fun for everyone!

Best. Photo. Ever.

Remember the box kite we were building? It finally had its first flight. It really flew!

Finally, I got another project finished. A summer quilt for a friend. This quilt came together quickly which made it fun.

If a Quilt were a Tree Drawing Quilt

Shameless self-promotion (Vote for ME!)

The (naptime) Pillowcase dress

So I've seen this tutorial a lot and wanted to try it out. The original design uses an old pillowcase. I do not have any sassy looking pillowcases, so it's my version of a pillowcase dress. I made it for the daughter of a friend and it was so easy to make. From start to finish it took me an hour and a half. That's including putting on a load of laundry in that time. I tried it on Mister when he woke up from his nap. He was not impressed. He just kept saying "no, no, no". Funny since he doesn't even know what a dress is! It's a fun little dress and it will probably fit the girl until she's 5. I think I need to make more of these, they're so cute!

In other "hey look at me!" news, I've entered a contest and I'm a finalist! My favourite local sewing shop is holding a contest to name their new privilege-discount card. They asked people to come up with a name for the card, and then they would select 5 finalists The contest details and all the entries can be found here. The finalist with the most votes wins a free member card (worth 50$). I'm asking everyone to help me win by voting for the name Couture Club. I would be very grateful if you could head on over to Emeline & Annabelle's blog to vote for me! The contest ends Monday June 27th at noon.

Freckles, Fresh Air and Flying Insects

The weather has been getting nicer and warmer here. Most days anyways. We've gotten into a nice routine where we go to the park in the morning, come home and have lunch then Alex goes down for a nice long nap. My freckles have exploded from all this outdoor time. Of course, just when I start planning things for me to do during his great naps, he gets sick. Again. Poor kid. Another cough that keeps him up at night and doesn't even let him nap during the day. It's getting better now but the past weekend was rough. No sleeping, no napping and an exhausting trip to Grandma's house. Doesn't matter how crabby he is, he always has fun at the park.

Someone is happy about spring.

More someones happy about spring as well!

Before he got sick I was getting a lot of sewing done. Actually finishing some stuff too!

 Here's some of my works in progress (there's actually more than this too, I'm a busy bee).

More on this one later.

This bad boy just need to be quilted and bound and then it's done

. I think it'll make a nice picnic blanket!

This fun little pillow was easier than I thought it would be!

(Tutorial here).

First thing Alex did when I gave it to him?

 He stood on it. Then threw it. Then hugged it. Toddler approved.

Another doll quilt almost done. Super secret project.

Last weekend we went with my friend to see the butterflies at the Botanical Gardens. Those butterflies were not shy, swooping by our heads! Alex loved seeing them, even if he got a little crabby with all the crowds (I was pretty crabby about the crowds too).

 This past weekend we went to the petting zoo at a local mall. Best part was the peacock.

Why did the chicken cross the peacock?

To get to the other side!

Winter, the tribe has spoken....

Yet another blizzard, and yet another toddler illness. I am sooo done with winter. Alex has a double ear infection and a cough that's lingered for almost a month now. Oh the boogers and the whining and the not sleeping. Poor chicken is so tired and fed up too, he had his first full on temper tantrum on the way to the doctor's office on Tuesday. I struggled to get on the bus with the stroller and the banchee kicking and screaming in my arms, as I had to lift my 30 lbs stroller up and over the snowbank to get on the bus. Fun. Oh and as a PSA, don't stare at the woman with the freaking out toddler. That doesn't help anyone!

Alex and I are both summer babies. We'll be much happier when the snow melts.
Despite all this, Alex has had moments of being very sweet. He surprises me every day with new words. Words that I had no idea were swimming around in that head of his. Moose, ostrich, kite, oatmeal (he'll say it but then doesn't want to eat it,,,somethings don't change). His personality seems to be emerging. He likes arranging things or lining them up. He seems to have a sense of humour. He likes drawing and painting, and he's a ninja with the shape sorter. He's continuously spinning, falling down and spinning again as I write this.

He's a funny little bird.

Cut up pancake yuck. Whole pancake with Mama's fork. Yummy!

He likes pressing all the buttons. I just need to teach him how to use it.

My First Sweat Shop.

I went to get him out of his bed and found he had been redecorating.

(Those pathetic stickers are all that remains of a wall full of animal decals we had put up when he was born)

Teddy bear time out?

Hand Sanitizer is my friend

It feels like forever since I've written a post. Alex has been sick, off and on since, oh about New Year's Eve. Sigh. Stomach flu three times, then a nasty cold with a still lingering cough. I hate winter. I really want it to be over. Alex's new trick to keep me on my toes is waking at some point in the night and staying AWAKE for 2-3 hours a night. He's happy, I put him down. Slight grumblings, but boy oh boy if I try to step out of his room the "MAMAMAMAMMAMAMAMAMA"s start. So I have to sit there in his room until he falls asleep. I try over and over to sneak out without success. I've read toddler often have this freaky sleep pattern. The only plus to this? I've been sleeping in (since he's been sleeping in) until 9 am. Ahh. So decadent!

In other random news, my friend mentioned in this post, the one who I met in prenatal yoga and who lost her son during childbirth. She had a beautiful baby last month. She posts photos of him on facebook all the time. She complained the other day that she puts her son down for a nap and then spends her time looking at photos of her son. This mother finally has a child to dote on. I am so so happy for her.

Quilting has completely taken over my brain lately. I close my eyes at night and see squares and triangles and these bad boys:

Hexagons are actutally easier than triangles to sew! They are however much more time consuming, having to stitch each one individually and then stitch them together. To make a quilt for Alex's bed I'd need 625 of these. Umm, yeah. I'm aiming for a Stanley the monkey sized quilt.

I've joined a quilting group at the local sew shop and today I signed up for my first quilting bee. I know. How cool am I?

and a bit more randomness for you (that's why you keep coming back isn't it?)

Sweetie looks like those one of those honey bees

 that get a number glued to them so they can track its movement.

Daisy is not impressed with the chic hat for Will and Kate's wedding.

And of course the Chicken. Wearing his fireman hat like Boy George wore his bowler hat.

I'm lurking in the background. I thought I was out of the frame.

He looks cute doesn't he?

Yeah, about a second later he threw the rainstick at the photographer's head.

ETA: Here's an outtake of Sweetie. Not a pelt. No animals were harmed in the making of this quilt.

Progress

Slowly this I Spy quilt I'm working on is coming together. Alex is sick yet again. Winter I have had just about enough of you and your slush, the cold and the colds and that dastardly winter coat that mister still hates to wear.

I'll got the quilting bug and have started collecting fabrics for the next quilt. These new fabrics look like spring. Ahh spring. Soon we will see each other again.

Candy Heart Message

click here to make your own candy hearts :)

Winter skin

My skin just feels so dry and scaly                                      

Sibling love

My sister posted this photo on Facebook. My nephew is about 2 years old in this photo and his sister is 1.(They're 12 and 13 now) It's too good not to share :)

Basement treasure troll

Ok, you know how I like to snoop browse through people's kitchen cupboards. Sooo there's this suitcase in the basement of the apartment building that's been there forever. It's open and it's headed for the trash. I couldn't help myself. I had to peek inside.
From what I can deduce from the contents of the suitcase is that it belonged to the old lady who used to live downstairs from us when we first moved in about 14 years ago. She was later placed in a home and since, passed away. The contents of the suitcase are definitely not worth anything. Mostly old Christmas cards and lots of empty envelopes from various departments of the government (they just love sending mail here). She seemed to have a bunch of stuff that she got from someone else who I gather passed away and then she went through his stuff, marking on it the date she read it. Basically a packrat died, another packrat took on his pile, then left it herself. So being at least part packrat I took it upon myself to sort through the suitcase for anything interesting.
Here's what I found:

A postcard of the NY skyline with the twin towers. That makes me sad.

Eddie, wrote to Smoky to let him know his sister died. On a postcard.

 Did people really do that back then?

Randy Duncan football card. Circa 1965.

I googled Randy Duncan (Antiques Road Show treasure??)

He was an Iowa State all-star who went to play in the CFL for the BC Lions because they offered him more money than the NFL teams could pay him (This of course is now hilarious to the Canadian readers since most CFL players have a second job to support themselves). He then got traded to the Texas Rangers but had a knee injury and stopped playing.

So this card was the last year he played professionally.

Space Panties! If the panties will give me an ass that's out of this world, I'm definitely getting a pair.

Also trying really hard not to picture the old lady in her panties...

 Winter carnaval. I've left the phone number on the photo because I seriously doubt the Shoe Jobber is still around. If they are, call them up and ask them WHY?

Oh good, it gets better.

For those of you who don't know Festival Carnaval is an annual winter festival in Quebec City that celebrates winter with activities, food, music and this is the mascot.



Not a sexy lumberjack.