Birthday Present for Sadie

I did this little guy up last night and I'm pleased with the results. As I start making more little creatures, I'll be changing things up, but I used what I had and I love him.

Sadie is a girl after my own heart. I used to love playing with stuffed animals and things and she loves it too. Her bed has no fewer than 10 stuffies and dollies in it, some absolutely have to be in there with her at bedtime. She always changes favorites but she loves them all.

There are things I'm going to try and figure out, but if all goes well, I'd like to start selling again on etsy. Would you be interested in buying my creations?

recipe: white iced tea with raspberry

 Lately I've been craving iced tea, but I was getting bored of just plain ol iced black tea. I must have a dozen different kinds of tea in the cupboard, so it was time to experiment. This is what I came up with, and it was delicious!

I steeped 4 Lipton Asian White tea bags in 8 cups of hot water for 4 minutes.
While that was steeping, I made a simple syrup by boiling 1/2 cup a sugar in a 1/2 cup water until it was combined.
Then removed the tea bags and added my syrup until I got it how I liked it. Added a bunch of frozen raspberries and when those thawed, it made it nice and tart. Very good stuff.

I packed this stuff outside on our picnic in the yard and it was wonderful.

Speaking of tea, I went to David's Tea finally and I fell in love. I came back with 6 different teas and a mug...I'll share more on that later though :)

thrifting adventures

Look what we found! My last trip to the thrift store included stopping off at their furniture place across the street. We strolled about going through a million ugly grandma couches before I found this guy near the back of the store. It pays to go through the entire store sometimes.

Sadie instantly had to try it out, and she loved it! The car couldn't fit it, so I had my sister stop by the store later that week and it was still there! $15 score for my kidlets! I'm very much debating on whether or not to paint its legs and green parts.

I peeked inside the desk to find a collection of mega blocks and crayons. Good work Sadie!

Outside picnic

It was too beautiful not to go outside. We packed a picnic of fruit (mostly strawberries) and trucked way too many toys outside to play.

We read stories, picked dandelions, and watched bugs. I love that we have a yard for Sadie to explore and discover things in. She really loves watching the ants on the patio and was heartbroken when I squashed an ant that made its way inside. She was crushed and I felt horrible.

 My pale children, oh they take after their mother. So happy I bought baby sunscreen yesterday. Lucas especially! Outside his hair gets so blonde too, I love it.

What are some other good activities to do with the kids outside? I'm thinking I need to get some sidewalk chalk for Sadie-pie.

Gradient Nail Polish!

I almost never have my nails painted. For the last 7 months I never had time. Oh, I tried, but as soon as I put a coat of polish on, someone started to cry, or needed to be changed or something, and so I'd ruin my pretty polish.

I saw this technique on pinterest and decided that since I have more time at night, I would try it out.

I used scotch tape and taped around my nails so I wouldn't get nail polish all over my fingers, then I painted 2 coats of the Ballet Slipper polish and let it dry. Then I took a makeup sponge and painted three lines of the different colours and sponged it on, it was that easy! Top coat and done. I have fancy pink nails now.

Sadie loves them, but when I painted one of her nails as a test, she wiped it off with her finger and tried to eat it.

So ya, we're not painting her fingers for a while yet...

Sadie Loves..

 

Wearing her sunglasses and hat

Waiving at the bugs while going "bzzzzz"

Waiving at our patio plants

Eating the patio plants

Colouring at her new desk

Going for walks in the stroller

Shrieking at Lucas so he'll shriek back

Licking people - This has to stop, its getting bad

Talking, she's talking more and more

Calling Daddy "Guy-dee"

Calling Papa "POBO"

Picking dandelions

Calling Nana on the phone and telling her about her day

Cuddling before bedtime

That's my girl, almost 2 years old.

thrifting adventures

 Some of the things I spied at the local thrift stores. I passed on the embroidered piece, but I am on the hunt for something cute that can go in Sadie or Lucas' room. I did get one of these little guys for my pyrex set. It goes with one of my bowl sets nicely.

 Sadie got upset when Kathryn went into the change rooms to try on clothes. She creeped in under the door after her. A meltdown occurred after when she didn't want to leave. Thrift store trips are meant to be in the afternoons well after nap time. My kids don't function well in public before nap time it seems.

 Picked up a bunch of pretty sheets to make things out of. Can't wait to use them. I have cut up a good chunk of my current supply so I bought 3 this time.

See! This is the Zombie stare. Momma, take me home please or I'll zonk out in the cart...
We headed home just after I took this picture of my normally cheerful boy. Shopping makes him sleepy- maybe its a guy thing.

Happy Monday

We're super busy these days, but will hopefully have another DIY for you all soon.

Bits of our day

Just bits of our day...
Beadhead, breakfast, laundry, playing, stories, sunshine, exploring, gardening.

Lucas tried lettuce from the garden. He did not like it really. He did like to tear it to shreds though. Sadie has been waiving at all the bugs she finds, and loves it when I show her worms in the garden.  She goes "ZZZzzzzzz" at them. Lucas hates touching the grass with his feet. Typical baby.
We planted peppers, onions, jalapenos and carrots today and enjoyed the outdoors. This back yard has been so much fun.

How does your garden grow?

Last year I didn't plant anything new, but then again, I was on bed rest. This year, we're going to teach Sadie how to grow things, but mostly she'll just learn to water the plants, especially the ones growing on the patio.

So far we've planted:

chives
dill
oregano
lemon thyme
basil
tomatoes
lettuce
lavender

We're working on getting a bunch more things planted, including onions, beets, carrots and broccoli.

This afternoons nap time was devoted to digging, picking rocks and weeding the old garden beds on one side of our yard. I'm thinking that one of them is not working out so well as its too close to a big bush with huge roots. We'll see. I'd rather not dig up more yard unless we have to.

My thirsty plants are getting rained on as I type, so I'm happy. I'll be sure to get more shots of what we've planted, and our seedlings.

Happy Easter!

He has risen!

apparently he needed a hat

This is how our mornings go now. The kids play in the kitchen now while I make breakfast because if they cant see me, all I hear is whining and crying, and sometimes Sadie will try and smother her brother with love. Literally. Poor boy, he is extra loved.


We colour, take our sweet time eating breakfast, and then run off to colour or play. Sadie has become quite the chatterbox while colouring. Have no clue what she's saying most of the time, but she babbles on and on. I did pick up na-no which is what she's called her grandmas before. So Grandma, she's probably drawing you in her scribbles.

Oh, and happy good friday to you all! We've been super busy today getting ready for Easter dinner.

DIY Cloth Napkins

I came up with a real easy way to make your own cloth napkins. I used it when I made cloth baby wipes and its super easy. Best beginner project to start on. My napkins are made from pretty floral fabric and are going to spruce up my table for Easter. Here's how to make your own:

And there you have it! Something pretty, reusable, and easy to make.