July 1, 2009 Happy Canada Day! | June 22, 2009 Does it seem weird that I rarely let her paint? Maybe I started too early with her and had too many disastrous attempts. It was never really fun for either of us. These says she is so appreciative (and good) when we get the paints out. Even more so when I let her paint with my paints. We only ruined 1 pair of pants... but it was worth it. She was so happy. I seriously need to make a smock for this child. Anyone know of any good patterns? | June 19, 2009 Dusting off the old paint brushes. I loved working on this painting this week. I had one dream day where Ila slept really well and I got to paint. I finished it in almost a day. That never happens for me. Projects have a way of dragging on these days due to many interruptions. Happy weekend! | June 15, 2009 Little Ila turned 6 months old last week. I haven't written too much about her here. There are many reasons for this... lack of time may be the big one, lack of words may be a bigger one. This baby has been a surprise from day one. I wasn't expecting to have another baby when we got pregnant. I knew in my heart I'd love to have more children, but I was so scared from my experience with Sosi as a baby. I didn't think I would be able to handle that all over again. Meeting Ila was an even bigger surprise. She was so different from Sosi, I was so different than I was with Sosi. She was so content (notice I am not saying good , high needs babies are good too, just more work!). I felt so happy (this was a huge surprise. I actually used have mild anxiety attacks when I saw moms of toddlers with new babies when Sosi was younger). Ila fit so well into our lives, our family. It's like she has always been here. Life is good . She has lightened all of our hearts. I guess I didn't want to jinx all this by writing about it. Plus I would hate to make things harder for any moms out there dealing with difficult days with their babies. I remember in the roughest days with Sosi I actually deleted a Flickr friend. I couldn't handle seeing pictures of her amazingly well behaved baby anymore. Pictures of him sitting in his high chair eating toast (Sosi would scream after 1 second in a high chair). Or pictures of him sitting in their backyard all angelic looking (Sosi would be running every which way, not listening to me at all... or screaming). Those pictures made me feel like such a failure. Every time I have thought about writing something about Ila, all I can see is myself 4 years ago and I can't do it. I don't want to alienate anyone. This may sound wierd but it's just the way it is. Instead of talking about Ila, I am going to talk about Sosi and Ila... and their love for each other, sister-love we call it. When I found out I was having a girl I couldn't help but feel nervous. My relationship with my own sister has been rocky. I love her dearly, but that love was never reciprocated when I was little. To be more direct, I felt she hated me as a child. While she and I get along now, I was terrified about revisiting all those feelings again with my own children. I was worried this baby was going to arrive and turn the happy life we had created upside down. Much to my relief Sosi LOVES Ila. She actually seems happier since Ila came along. Ila has brought out a real calm and caring side in her. "Love" isn't a strong enough word to describe how Ila feels about Sosi. She lights up and smiles whenever she sees her. This weekend Sosi told Paul that she and Ila were going to be best friends. I think they already are, and my heart couldn't be more full. This little girl has healed me in more ways than I can even explain. | June 8, 2009 Searching for sea glass. Taking inventory of sea glass. | June 4, 2009 Glimpses of a weekend (yes, it's Thursday already... it's been that kind of week) First dip in the ocean. A visit with cousins. (10 points if you can spot the cousin!) A night out for me. I went finally to an opening at Peake Street Studio. I even went out for drinks (well, a drink) afterwards with some friends. So. much. fun. A very exciting birthday party... with special guest the Music Man. He is like a celebrity in these parts. My pieces from the show are still available if you are interested. I will be adding them to the shop later today. | May 26, 2009 If you'd like to have a little peek inside our little home, check out my home tour over at cafe mom. I'm so thrilled to be in such amazing company. I am a big fan of the other moms featured. | May 25, 2009 Solely out of necessity we have become much better cooks since moving to PEI. Can't find good Thai food? Let's make it ourselves! My husband now makes a killer Pad Thai. In Vancouver we lived close to so many amazing restaurants. Whatever we craved, we could run across the street and get for $10. Why learn to cook something if it is that easy to just have someone else make it for you? One of the hardest parts about living here is the lack of diversity restaurant-wise. I guess the up side is that we have become such better cooks. My husband, Paul, is Portuguese and his parents used to run and own a bakery in Revelstoke, B.C. His mother tells the story that when she was in labour with Paul she stopped at the bakery to make turn overs on the way to the hospital. He used to nap on bags of flour. So when we decided to bring pastéis de nata to dinner at a fellow Portuguese living on PEI yesterday, he was the man to do the job. It was love at first bite with me and pastéis de nata. I have had them from various bakeries in Vancouver, but the best by far was one that came straight from Portugal. We were meeting my father-in-law the Vancouver airport, he was returning from a trip to Portugal and had a few hours between flights. My heart missed a beat when I noticed he had a small white box tied up with string. Inside were still fresh pastéis de nata he had bought that same morning. I only got one... but I really wanted to eat the whole box. Maybe it was because I haven't had one in so long, or that that they were fresh out of my oven, but the ones Paul made yesterday tasted just as good as that one I had at the airport. These are pretty labour intensive, but so worth all the work. If are feeling up to it, here's the recipe. Enjoy. | May 21, 2009 Here are my finished pieces for a local show next weekend. The theme for the group show is "Scale". If you are in Charlottetown, swing by the Peake Street Studio (47 Peake st) Saturday May 30 around 8:00 p.m. The shows are always lots of fun. * What I learned making these this week: I apparently like making art more than showering... * | May 19, 2009 mine. hers. mine. hers. | Blog Archives Copyright Lori Joy Smith 2003-2009. Please don't steal my stuff!