Circle skirt in action

One problem with those skirts.

Beri's diaper really skews this skirt. Kind of like how maternity shirts need to be longer in front. This picture was with a disposable diaper and it's still way shorter in the back.  Maybe if I moved the inner circle towards the back a bit next time. Does that make sense to anyone?

Bah. She's still cute as freakin' pie.

Momma's busy taking pictures, don't you dare try to eat that rock.

Loo's view

My favourite people visited us last week and look what they gifted Loo!!! Now he can take pictures just like mom. Do I smell a Loo's View feature in Crafty Ave future. Yup, I just might.

Twirly circle skirts

A couple weeks ago I bought Lil Blue Boo's Twirl Skirt pattern.

First I made a pink one from an old shirt.

Then I decided to combine it with Dana's instructions for a circle skirt and wound up with this.

These are the first two skirts I've made Beri and I have a feeling there will many more in her future.

 

The pattern also had women's sizes so who knows I might even make one for me.

Pinafore

Yes it was a pinafore. I never really understood a pinafore until Beri got one as a hand me down. Then I realized how adorable they really are. And even better, they're a quick easy sew!

I found this pattern from Aliyah's Hope Chest. It's reversible and only $2 which was even less CAD.

Cute.

Cute.

Cute.

Conversations with a two (and a half) year old

I love conversations with Loo. Lately most of the things he says while still adorable, completely make sense. Here's a few funny moments we've had recently.

Loo:      "I want you to sing rockabye."  
Me:       "Do you want me to sing Rockabye My Love"
Loo:      "No I don't like that one, I want rockabye."
Me:       "Do you want me to sing Rockabye Baby?"
Loo:      "No."
Me:        "What song do you want?"
Loo:       "The one where mommy buys Beri a goat."

Aha, Mama's Gonna Buy you a Mockingbird.


Loo:      Throws a toy goat up in the air where it hits the wall then a lamp, then turns and looks straight at me.

            "Mommy are you happy?"

Me:      "No."

Loo:     "Why?"

Me:      "Please don't throw your toys."

Loo:     "But the goat was trying to fight dragons. I want a grilled cheese."

            "Mom, are you happy?"

Me:      "Yes."

Loo:     "I want a hug."

Loo:     "Mom I want it to go louder."

We were mixing brownies, both holding the same wooden spoon mixing the batter. Lately louder means more or quicker in addition to an increase in decibels.


Spell check wants to change all my rockabye's to rockabilly's and ragbag's, he he he.

BAD challenge - day 7

Today I made cheese bread. Not very healthy- white flour and a truckload of cheese, but guess what? Today is the first day of my vacation so I didn't care. I've got a few blog posts already lined up and scheduled to appear while I'm gone and as of lunch time tomorrow I am going offline for the week. The last time I did that was two summers ago and I really appreciated the break. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Back to the bread.

It overflowed again. Does that mean too much yeast? It tasted okay once I cut the top off but it wasn't knock your socks off cheesy. I suppose I needed to use sharp cheese like the recipe said.

I prefer the taste of whole wheat bread. Maybe next time I'll try a whole wheat cheddar recipe.

Of course the kids love it. My favourite for the week? I was going to say the Red River Cereal loaf but then we had grilled cheese today with the flax loaf and it's really good too. I learned I much prefer whole wheat bread with crunchy thinks baked inside. Oh yes, the raisin loaf was also delicious. It was a fun challenge and I'm happy to have more recipes in my repertoire and bread in the freezer. It made me realize again how easy it is, 5 or 6 ingredients and 5 minutes time for a delicious and inexpensive bread.

Here's the links to all the days, thanks for following along.

Day 1 - Red River Cereal bread

Day 2 - Flax prairie bread

Day 3 & 4 - Whole wheat oatmeal bread & whole wheat bran bread

Day 5 - Whole wheat raisin bread

Day 6 - Chia bread

Have a great week. I'll be back before I know it.

BAD challege - day 6

Ch ch ch chia bread. Sounds fun? Not so much, I returned home after a long day of work excited to eat some chia bread to find this.

Once I wrenched the bread out of the pan and cut off the muffin top, I had this.

I'm not sure if you can tell or not but it's almost grey in colour. It tastes strongly of chia (not in a delicious vanilla and maple syrup kind of way).  I don't much care for it.

Luckily someone was interested.

Only one more day! Any guesses as to what I'll make?

BAD day 1

BAD day 2

BAD day 3 and 4

Bad day 5

BAD challenge - day 5

Sweet cinnamon raisin goodness. If you think you don't have time to use a bread machine consider this: Loo and I got this ready in ten minutes with a fevery 13 month old in the room, before I left for work this morning. If a two year old, a Hot Molly and I can do it, you can too!

You can find the recipe here. I didn't have evaporated cane juice so I used the suggested white sugar. This is the first loaf I've made that's completely whole wheat flour and it disappeared the quickest.

BAD challenge - day 1

BAD challenge - day 2

BAD challenge - day 3 and 4

I have no idea what to make tomorrow. Raisin bread was supposed to be my grand finale... ooops.

Put on a happy face

It's days like these, (Beri has a new high fever record of 106 degrees)

that I'm wearing my "happy face" mask.

Thanks grandma for looking after my babies today!

BAD challenge - days 3 and 4

Day 3:  Whole wheat oatmeal bread. I didn't add the dry milk powder. It still turned into bread. I also used the timer for the first time and Monday woke up to the smell of fresh bread. Perfection. The power went out briefly during the night and I was a little concerned (in that I'm so tired that I'm not going to go check it out kinda way) but it still worked!

Day 4: Whole wheat bran bread. Yummy and delicious. Again with the dry milk powder in the recipe. I just ignored this part and it still worked. Maybe a bread connoisseur somewhere would be upset but we're not.

I know, I know, it all looks the same. It kinda all tastes the same too. I just keep finding healthy things in the cupboard and then googling bread recipes that include them. Three more days to go.

BAD day 1

BAD day 2

Plaid shorts

Finally a pair of not so boring shorts. I think this puts Loo's handmade shorts tally up to 5? I think he has 3 or 4 hand me down pairs and I honestly can't remember the last time I bought a pair of them!

Loo's happy that I added pockets to this pair.

Unfortunately he's outgrown Dana's free pants/shorts pattern. I went back to Huck Finn pants by Heather Ross and shortened them. I added the pork chop pockets from the MADE tutorial.

Perfect for airplane rides. (Eeek that hair's not growing as fast as I'd hoped.)

Looking at these pictures close up I think the fabric for the left pork chop is going in the wrong direction.

Oh well, like with the hair cippers, we live we learn. In the meantime, Loo works what he's got.

Things to be thankful for [sick baby edition]

I realize it's more difficult to find things to be thankful for when I have a bad day, but much more rewarding. It helps me to remember all the good things. I just got home from a four hour trip to the after hours clinic with Beri. Not only do I have two babies who are prone to ear infections, but a baby girl who likes to crank out heat to a temperature of 104 degrees and make her mom sweat with worry. At one point tonight she was shivering and shaking but luckily the doctor was about to walk in.  Enough complaining, tonight I was thankful for:

Our health care system. I heard someone quoted over $300 to see the doctor without an Ontario health card. I am extremely thankful that I have access to a doctor for my children whenever I want and it is covered.

Sharing a corn beef on rye sandwich and a yogurt with Beri from the hospital cafeteria.

Sympathetic smiles with other parents holding fevery infected babies.

Sitting down the hall from the operating room where both my babies were born.

People playing peek a boo with Beri in the waiting room.

Giving Beri a little baby foot massage when she woke up from a nap while waiting at the clinic. She's really starting to enjoy foot rubs!

The Shoppers cashier who helped me rip open a box of baby Tylenol at the counter so I could give it to my shaky baby hot tamale.

Loo hearing me call Beri a hot tamale and calling her a "Hot Molly".

Reuniting at the pharmacy with parents who were at the clinic and smiling again.

Ten minutes later going back to the check out and the same Shoppers cashier helping me open a package of pacifiers and handing a pink one to Beri.

Rewarding myself with a coke for all my good mothering.

Watching some gorgeous orange sheet lightening in the distance on our drive home.

Giving Beri a bath in the kitchen sink before sending her off to bed.

Mr. Crafty Ave holding down the fort with Loo while I was busy with Beri and warming me up some potato soup.


Just writing this post puts it all in perspective and makes me feel a lot better. She's got one does of medicine down and is sleeping soundly. I did make bread today but I'm exhausted, so you'll just have to wait until tomorrow for the big reveal.

BAD challenge - day 2

I realized a couple things since I announced my bread a day challenge last night.

1. I didn't give a time frame but I had one in mind. So no, I'm not making a loaf of bread a day forever. Just for 7 days. 
2. Bread A Day = BAD which makes me smile.
3. I realize that a picture of a loaf of bread every day isn't that exciting and I'm sorry.

Today's bread is Flax Prairie Bread. It looks and smells fantastic. To be honest we've gorged ourselves on the bread from yesterday and I haven't cut into today's loaf. I used yesterdays bread to make the most delicious thick slices of french toast with banana and cinnamon topped with local Canadian maple syrup and local strawberries on the side for lunch today. Completely drool worthy. So the plan for today's bread is the freezer, except Loo just saw the picture and now he wants some.

33 months

It took me a minute to count up all those months. Loo, as of yesterday you're 2 and 3/4 years old.

The most exciting moments for you the past month other than your hair cut have been:

Starting daycare. You've been having some sad moments and weepy drop offs which just about breaks my heart. I think you're still adjusting to being away from me for so many hours at a time.

You love to sing. You sing and stomp your feet all the time. You've even started making up your own songs which is super adorable.

You stopped sitting in a booster seat at the table.

You "read" books to yourself after we've put you to bed.

Today at nap time I asked you if you wanted to sleep in your bed or crib. You said bed. You've NEVER slept in your bed before. I moved all your things, two pillows, Thomas night light, 2 blankets, books and your froggie onto your double bed. Laid the pillows against the edge so you wouldn't roll out and you went right to sleep. Same thing at bed time. Like most of your other milestones this one's going quickly. It's like I blinked and you've grown up.

A bread a day

A few weeks ago I made the decision for our family that we will no longer buy bread. Reading the ingredients the past year has turned me off a bit along with the high cost. I recently bought my friends bread maker, by bought I mean threw money in her car as she resisted. Since then I've only made one loaf. I haven't bought bread but the times I've wanted some it hasn't been there.

Since I like to do things all or nothing and I like to make up goofy challenges I decide to start another one.

Starting today I am challenging myself (and you too if you want to play along and dig that bread maker out of the dusty cupboard it's hiding in) to make a loaf of bread a day. To make it even more exciting (as exciting as bread making gets) I'm going to try a different recipe each day as well. I'm not trying to gain ten pounds in a week, a lot of it will be taste tested and frozen for those days when we need a grilled cheese or toast.

This week I picked up my first ever box of Red River Cereal and although it's already overflowed in my microwave twice, I like it. It's a nice switch from oatmeal and it took just one bite to realize it would be great in bread. I found a recipe for Red River Cereal Bread and had Loo help me measure ingredients.  The verdict? Of the 4 breads I've ever made this is my favourite. It most resembles the name brand bread we used to buy and it's delicious.

These books is definitely on my radar but I'm still pretty intimidated and not sure I'm ready to make that next step. Maybe when the fall weather sets in. For now it's bread maker or bust. If you have a favourite bread recipe or want to join in, let me know!

Saturday night and I'm blogging about bread, a little bit sad but guess what? Mr. Crafty Ave and I are actually going out this evening! We're just waiting for our babysitter to arrive!

Headband

I was pretty excited to find this the other day on Make it & Love it. Beri was napping and I was hanging out with Loo and wanted a quick project to work on that didn't involve sewing in the basement. Twenty minutes later Beri had a new headband to wear.

So cute and it sort of tames her wild and crazy baby hair.

I might have to make her a few more this weekend ( and maybe one for me ?) A quick and easy way to use up fabric scraps.

What else is she wearing? Details on the way....