Category: Kids

4 years later…

Posted on Posted in Kids, Life, P.E.I3 Comments

 

4 years ago yesterday we arrived on Prince Edward Island, fresh from the big city of Vancouver, and started the journey of making this place our home.

So much has happened over these years, but the biggest thing for me is just how much this does feels like home now. We have many, many wonderful people in our lives. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

When we first moved here people were always asking us how we were liking it here, we always answered we felt like we won the lottery by getting to live here. 4 years later… I still feel the same way.

kitty-sose

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I have a confession… I’m not a big fan of Halloween (why does it have to be so scary?). I’ve never really understood it. It seems like a lot of fuss (a.k.a work) for no reason. Luckily Sosi seems to be just like her mama and has never seemed to care much for it either. She’s been happy to wear and re-wear the same couple of costumes her grandma made her each year.

This year though, maybe inspired by her sister (who would happily live her entire life dressed as a monkey), she seemed keener to dress up. After looking through thrift stores and costume stores we decided to hit the fabric store instead. She instantly fell in love with this super furry white fabric and gave me simple instructions… kitty dress.

All the dread I had over the years about homemade costumes was for nothing. Making this costume was so fun! The fabric was very forgiving (mistakes hidden in the  furriness) and we are both couldn’t be happier with the results. I especially love how it turned out to look a little like a girl version of Max from Where the Wild Things Are.

oh, the things I do for free chocolate…

Posted on Posted in Kids, Life, P.E.I7 Comments

When I was contacted about participating in the “perfectly tiny” awards, I wasn’t sure it was for me. There was talk of photos… press… I cringed (pretty shy and awkward over here!).

The more it sat with me though, the more I began to think “why not”?  A year’s supply of chocolate and getting recognized for some of my favourite paintings? Doesn’t sound that bad! Also, how often do my kids get to see me awarded a gigantic trophy? Not enough times, I’d say. 🙂

(Thanks Nicole and  everyone at Reese for making it such a fun experience!)

table rules

Posted on Posted in Illustration, Kids, Life20 Comments

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Our “Table Rules” poster has worked wonders around here. Especially for the smallest person in our house, who you can see, was my major inspiration for the poster.

I whipped it up in a fit of desperation one night before supper. Nothing else was working or getting through to my temperamental little 2 year old. Every night she was making dinnertime stressful with her crazy behavior, I couldn’t take it anymore.

I’m not sure why I haven’t made anything like this sooner… maybe because it just seemed too easy. If your kids aren’t listening to you when you ask them something 100x why would a picture work? Well, it does. When someone  is breaking one of our “rules” at dinner time, we simply point to the picture and  (mostly) they stop.

It’s also been a big conversation piece with visitors to our home  (most likely thinking to themselves “what kind of crazy house is this?!”). People seem to like it …so I thought if this helped us, maybe it might help some others in the same situation.

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So I redid the poster and made it into a PDF (b+w, so your kids can colour it in if they want). You can download it by clicking on the button below.

P.S Sosi is pretty horrified I drew her throwing food and wanted me to make it very clear she doesn’t do that. I just couldn’t draw Ila doing everything .

download

these days

Posted on Posted in Art, Barnfaces, Illustration, Kids, Life4 Comments

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These days have been full, very full. A lot of going back and forth…

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from things like this,

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and this,

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to this,

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and this.

In July my attempt to get more childcare backfired…and I ended up with no childcare. My children were both miserable in the new places I put them and begged to stay home with me. After weeks of fighting them, and lots of tears and stress, I gave in. I ‘ve had them home for 2 weeks with me and it has worked out amazingly. I ‘m with them during the day and my husband is with them in the evening and weekends (when I whisk myself off to my (Katherine’s) studio, aka heaven). I’m actually getting lots done and more importantly …

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look how happy these two are (man, I love them)! It’s been nuts, but so totally worth it.

Finding Balance

Posted on Posted in Art, Barnfaces, Kids, Life3 Comments

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My biggest challenge in motherhood so far has been finding that ever elusive life-work balance. In my perfect world I would have a few days of doing this…

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followed by some lovely days like this…

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The hard part is not feeling a little resentful (for not having time to work) when I’m doing this…

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or not feeling really guilty (for not being with my kids) when I’m doing this.

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It’s especially difficult in times like this when my girls are having a hard time.  I know things will work out. If we are patient and easy on ourselves, the perfect balance will come.

lego portraits

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(lego portraits by Sosi of Ila and herself)

Thinking a lot of my girls today as both start new summertime adventures that will allow me some much needed time to work.

It never gets easier leaving them somewhere new for the first time. I feel the same today (a little nauseous and a lot sad) as I did when I left Ila at daycare for the first time, or dropped Sosi off for her first day of school. It breaks my heart every time. I really hope the tears have been replaced by smiles and happy new friends when I pick them both up later.

what do you when it feels like winter in June?

Posted on Posted in crafting, Kids, Life, P.E.I

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You make a beach blanket! It’s usually cold here on PEI this June. Most days we are still in fleece jackets and boots. Each morning we wake up to a dreary 10 degree day. We ‘re starting to feel pretty grumpy and are wondering how long this can go on!

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I decided a bright yellow happy beach blanket was just the thing to make us feel better. While cutting, pinning and sewing this with Ila on my knee, I couldn’t help but smile and think of all the beautiful days that will hopefully come soon and we can finally be outside.

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The only thing is Ila’s convinced that this blanket is for her and will not let it out of her sight. I think I will have to get back to my sewing machine and make another. I have plenty of time though, it’s still chilly outside…

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at least it’s sun-shiny inside!

sweet, sweet weekend

Posted on Posted in food, Kids, Life1 Comment

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I’ve been dreaming about making these mini banana splits since I first laid eyes on them a couple weeks ago.  The girls and I made them together yesterday (more them as you can see). Ours didn’t look as amazing as the ones in the recipe, but man, they tasted sooooooo good! Our dinner table hasn’t ever been so quiet as when we were eating these. 🙂

Sosi made the rice crispy snowmen for a dinner we had with some friends on Saturday. She had seen a picture of some popcorn marshmallow snowmen in an old American Girl magazine we had lying around and has been fixated with making them ever since… like mother like daughter!

an easy blanket for Ila

Posted on Posted in crafting, Kids1 Comment

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I’ve been wanting to make a similar patchwork quilt for Ila like the one I made for Sosi a while back.  Sadly, it just hasn’t happened and I couldn’t see it happening anytime soon. So I decided to go for the easy road instead of no road at all.

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I went to the local Fabricville and picked out the least offensive fabric (sorry Fabricville, but I hate you). I quickly sewed it  to the rest of that amazing vintage chenille cozy blanket I have been saving. I then filled it with the same bamboo quilting batting I used for Sosi’s.

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I stitched on some cute buttons in an effort to make it a little more special (and to hold the batting in place ) . I think it came together pretty well. It will at least hold her until she gets her proper quilt like her sister’s… someday (I’m still hopeful, that’s good right?).

making me happy

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Paul has been away and is still away. When he’s away from us, I tend to feel pretty sad…

Here are some things that are have been cheering me up while he’s been away…

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A visit from Pop

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Finally getting a warm day!

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Flowers from our backyard

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Sosi’s paintings of these flowers

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Quiet  moments

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Crazy moments

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Having this handsome man to keep me company.

mother’s day

Posted on Posted in Kids, Life4 Comments

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I’m so lucky I get to be the mom to these 2 little ones. Sometimes I feel so completely inadequate for the job, like they deserve so much more than I can give. Each day is a fresh start and I get a change to be better, and become the mother I  dream of being.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there, especially my mom and my mother-in-law Norete… love you both.

Easter Visit

Posted on Posted in Kids, Life

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We had my mom and Grandma here for Easter.

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I think the highlight of the visit  for me was flying kites down at Victoria Park all together. My Grandma fell in my kitchen on her second day here and broke her rib. She was such a trouper it is unbelievable.

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Here she is at 85, broken rib, flying a kite. It was the first time in her life that she had ever flown one, she was so happy. The woman is too cute.

happy easter

Posted on Posted in Kids, Life

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Happy Easter weekend.  We have had a lovely weekend full of warmer weather, sunshine and visiting family. Hope you are all enjoying the long weekend.

montréal, part 2

Posted on Posted in books, Kids, Life1 Comment

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Along with all the leisurely walks, coffee drinking and baby holding, I also got to visit some amazing book stores while in Montréal. The first, this one above is the Drawn and Quarterly store. I had a mild heart attack when I saw how close it was to my sister’s house (around the corner!). I love comics and graphic novels and this publisher has some of the best. I spent a couple of very happy hours in there and came away with these:

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I bought Tove Jansson’s “Who will comfort Toffle?” mostly for myself, but Sosi also loves it. It is so gorgeously illustrated and made, I could go back to it over and over and always find something new.

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The story is so sweet and heartfelt.

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I want to frame each page and hang them on our walls. I’ve wanted to get Sosi into the Moomin comics and thought these colourful picturebooks would be a good start. I was right, she loves them.

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While there I also picked Guy Delisle’s “Pyongyang” for myself and devoured it. It was such an amazing look into the mundaneness of living in a part of the world which we know so little about. It was fascinating. I’d love to read more of Guy Delisle’s books.

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I also got to some lovely French bookstores to look for books to bring back for the girls. Ila loved this one I brought back for her. It has furry-bits and flaps and monkeys… all the makings of a perfect book in her opinion.

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I wanted to find some really fun French books for Sosi, who is in French immersion. I saw this and once I started looking through it I couldn’t put it down.

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I grew up watching Barbapapa and all the happy memories flooded back looking at these pages.

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I think this is Sosi’s favourite gift that I brought back for her,

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she is completely captivated.

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It even ends with a pop-up page, all books should end with a pop-up page!

You can find all sorts of wonderful Barbapapa books at the Renault-Bray site. They even do free shipping on orders over 39$. I know I’ll be ordering more!