Valentine’s Day 2013

I had a lot of fun with Valentine’s day this year. Not only did I get to volunteer in Sean’s class in his elementary school but Sean and I got to make some pretty awesome Valentine’s Day cards. I saw this idea, online, about a year ago and knew that this is what I wanted to do when Sean was in Kindergarten for his classmates. After a little printing mishap (my color laser printer would NOT accept card stock, but my sister’s ink jet printer saved the day in the end), we had some pretty awesome Valentine’s Day cards.

If you notice, most of them are in French. I had to take the PDF that was on the web, get rid of the English and add in French text. Because I’m extremely  familiar with Photoshop this didn’t take me long at all. Sean’s in French immersion at school (Kindergarten through grade 2 are French all day, only grades 3 through 6 are half day English, half day French). We did print 1 sheet of English ones for a few of his buddies outside of his class. The light sabers are glow sticks, how cool! I had on hand already 1 pack of glow sticks from Target (which I was thinking about using once for part of one of the kids lootbags, but didn’t have enough), those were 15 for 1$. The balance of the glow sticks I picked up at a dollar store here, were 6 for 1$. (I wish Target would open up in Canada already!)

Sean wrote them all out, and signed them. I put them into a little Valentine’s lootbag with some candies for his friends. We had a blast making them, and I hope his friends like them too, because I’m pretty darn proud of them! I definitely am keeping this idea for Mackenzie’s kindergarten class next year.

How was your Valentine’s Day? Hope it was filled with lots of love! Enjoy!

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day dear readers!

I have a long overdue post to work on, I had out of town guests for a week until this past Friday, and I have a lot to share with you. (That’s why I was MIA all week! Time flies when you’re having fun).

Mother’s Day 2012

I know I'm a tad late on this as life has been quite busy around here, and getting time to actually sit down at my computer for long enough periods of time is rare these days. I've been meaning to tell you about the awesome gift I got for Mother's Day this year. My boys spoiled me with this Boye Electric Ball Winder. I haven't actually had any yarn to wind yet, so I cannot wait to actually use it. I will review it once I actually get to plug it in & use it. Do you have this ball winder? What's your opinion of it? My arm was tired of using the manual Royal one I have, so this is really a treat. (I'm still keeping my manual one though, just in case I ever need it - as back up). But other than this great gift, I got to sleep in, and that was a super nice treat too. I couldn't have asked for a better mother's day.

Easter/ Passover 2012

I am now recovering from a long weekend. It was busy with Passover (we hosted Friday night Jamie's entire family and we went Saturday night to my parents house for the 2nd night), Easter (Sunday we had an afternoon late lunch with Jamie's step-family) and having the kids home on Friday and Monday). I took the older boys on Friday for a haircut (as you can see in these photos - but I'll post about that this week, they are sooo handsome when they get their haircut). We hoped you had a great holiday weekend, whatever you celebrate, and we hope that you had a good time. They kids kind of got wild off all the treats this weekend, but all in all they were good. Quentin cut his 4th molar and one of his four canine teeth (according to this website's teeth names), and has still not been sleeping through the night (and skipping some naps too). I need a week of sleep to catch up, but I think my body is now used to the interrupted sleep.

Chrismukah

Santa has come to visit, milk, cookies & carrots for the reindeer have been left out by the fireplace. The kids are going to be super surprised when they wake up tomorrow!

We celebrate both Chanukah & Christmas. I hung some dreidles on our tree. Next year, I plan to knit up some handmade ornaments (I thought about it this year, but ran out of time).

And we’ve been lighting the menorah each night. There are just a few nights left of Chanukah. Things have been busy around here, and while the holidays are fun, I can’t wait until after the holidays, so we can sit back & relax.

If you celebrate Chanukah – HAPPY CHANUKAH! If you celebrate Christmas – MERRY CHRISTMAS! Happy Holidays to all of my wonderful readers. Hope you get spoiled this Christmas! Some of you may have had a tough year in 2011, so let’s be grateful for what we have.

Happy Canada Day!

Hope my Canadian followers are having a great Canada Day (and are being safe)! How'd you spend your day? We had a work BBQ/Volleyball day, spent the entire day outdoors, and had a good time. I'm working on a knitting & crochet post, and all my other updates are coming soon too - so much has been going on here, so much to update you all about! Stay tuned!

*NO DRINKING OF BEER BY MINORS WAS DONE WHILE TAKING OF PHOTOGRAPHS FOR THIS POST*

Happy Mother’s Day

Quentin’s come a long way since being born in this bathtub. This was his first home bath here. Look how much he’s filled out in about 5 months! He’s practically outgrown this tub too. In a few weeks once he can sit well on his own, I will transfer him into the next tub we have (that I’ve used for all the kids). I also have something else that I received as a gift, that I will try out. I have to pull it out of storage and see what it is even. I know it’s for sitting babies though.

This week we had some friends over and enjoyed some music. We had a lot of fun. We’ve been taking music with the same music guy since January, and it’s amazing how fast the time passes when you’re having fun.

This week we also spent time collecting bugs, and digging to China. I used to dig to China as a kid, it’s fun to do it as an adult too!

The boys made me some stuff in school for mother's day. Mack made me a magnet with his picture in it, which is now on my fridge, and Sean made me a tea cup that had a muffin in it. The tea pot card had a bag of tea in it. They're so cute my boys! Sean actually last night came to me and told me "I wrote my name in a Spongebob card for you, but I can't tell you until tomorrow". Oy. Can't tell him anything! And can't do things in advance with him. I told Jamie later last night what Sean told me and we had a good chuckle about it.

Quentin isn't feeling 100% today, but he's still all smiles. I think he might be cutting his first tooth. He's been leaving me a lot of lovely presents in his diaper today, on Mother's Day of all days. I think it is very likely he's cutting a tooth. (He's been cranky on top of it - but always with smiles). Sean showed me that he could still fit in the BébéPod chair. (I was actually shocked that he could still fit into it).

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there whom read my blog! Hope you had a nice day, spoiled by your loved ones.

Today’s Link Love:
- This image. And this one too.
- Love these tin can yarn holders.
- Love these faucets as hooks!
- Need to find time to make hanging book shelves for the boys. Very cute.
- Wow, this is a really organized fabric stash!
- Love this ruffled bookmark tutorial.
- I still love this diaper/wipes case tutorial.
- Love this twine/string storage organizer idea.
- Love love love love love love this purple dress.
- This made me laugh out loud! And this too!
- Why didn’t I ever think of this? Smart idea! (And I just chucked out 300 bread tabs!)
- Love this wish jar (and the photo).
- Love these camera soaps!
- ♥♥♥♥♥♥
- Wishes she could have this as her 30th birthday cake.
- Loving hearts today!
- Keep meaning to use up our crayon bits to do this.
- Now I feel better about my office being a mess!
- 2 more 5 point Pampers gifts to grow codes: LoveFromPattie5, YIYY9Y6DPDPD6DT
- I started a growth blog for each of my boys for their weekly self-portrait photos, instead of posting a million photos in my posts, since I'm not blogging daily anymore. You can view Sean's here, Mack's here and Quentin's here. It's just easier to keep track of it that way too. (Quentin's is fully up to date, Sean & Mack's will be fully there shortly, I am manually transferring everything over, so please be patient).
- I enjoyed a few movies this week. I saw Limitless (with Bradley Cooper), Going the Distance (with Drew Barrymore and Justin Long) and Due Date (with Robert Downey Jr). While they were entertaining, I wouldn't say any of the 3 were fantastic, nor would I watch any of them again. But it was entertaining while they were on.
- Jamie and I are back into the swing of things of watching Dexter. We've had Season 5 sitting on our PVR for months now, and did a marathon. Gosh that show is good. We have no idea where time goes, so catching up has been put on the back burner, but now that seasons are winding down for the summer, we're making time.

Weekend Round-Up.

Friday we played in the park with some out of town friends from Calgary.

Saturday was Easter Dinner at my step-sister-in-law's house.

Sunday we went to a friend's house for an Egg Hunt.

The boys had a great time searching for Eggs.

Some even took a nap. Lots of eggs were found bearing candies & toys.

Sunday afternoon we played in the park.
Sean got to ride his new bike (4th birthday present)

I even burned some energy playing soccer with Sean.

Monday I taught the boys how to Yo-yo.

Hope you all had a fantastic Easter weekend!

The week of Passover 2011

On Tuesday April 19th, Quentin turned 20 weeks old.
On Tuesday April 19th, Sean turned 224 weeks old.
On Thursday April 21st, Mack turned 148 weeks old.

This week we went on the 2nd night of Passover to my parents house for dinner. Quentin got dressed up all snazzy in a cute onesie with a collar which he wore under his jean overalls (my fave pants for him right now, he's almost outgrown them too - they're 0-3 months size). At Passover at my parents, we got to sit at the kids table with Jenn & her entourage. The cousins had a great time together.

The boys are so cute together. They love each other and are so good with each other.

Some babies suck their thumbs, Quentin discovered his index finger.

I did some knitting this week too.
Stuff was pushed aside so I could sit back, relax & knit.

SPECS:

Pattern: Pea Pod by Dulce Knits (My Ravelry Link)
For: Photography Prop
Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash in Green Apple

Needle: US 13 - 9.0 mm
Size: Preemie
Timeline: April 20, 2011 (A couple of hours).
Modifications & Notes: Held yarn quadruple stranded. Total weight of the finished POD is 138 grams. I used 34.5 g of each 100g skein. It’s rather small. I plan to re-knit it, adding to it. I’ll have to figure it out on my own, because the pattern only has one size. A really tiny newborn will probably fit into the pod, but I am not sure an average sized newborn will. I have never held yarn quadruple stranded before. There is a first for everything. I needed to get 2 stitches per inch and I swatched double stranded and then triple stranded but only got gauge on quadruple stranded with US13 needles. I like the thickness that the Cascade 220 gives held together. I wanted to use this particular color hence why I used as much as I needed to get gauge. It’s a stunning color. Now I just need a newborn to photograph in it…!

Quentin is such a joy to hang out with every day. He's got a great personality and he's always got smiles to share. This week Quentin got to try out the exercauser, but he still needs to gain a little bit of weight before he could really enjoy it. He's still a little too tiny.

This morning I took Quentin to the CLSC to weigh in. He's fully on the regular (non-high calorie) formula and I wanted to make sure that he was still on track with his weight gain. Quentin is now 12 and a half lbs (12 lbs 8.5 oz). And I'm officially down 25 lbs. So I've officially lost 2 Quentins! I feel great.

Today's Link Love:
- Stuff in our greenhouse are growing! Sean got super excited when he saw the plants.
- Kiki & Coco in Paris.
- This paper record player is quite neat.
- This photobooth video is quite impressive.
- This afghan pattern is quite pretty.
- I ♥ this bokeh filter tutorial.
- Love this Rendition of Cecilia.
- Love this Travel Toy Tutorial.
- 10 free Pampers Gifts to Grow points: JRYHAFFCR6WDPHY (expires 4/25/11)
- Huggies Enjoy the Ride Reward Points: 25 free points! BKWHDMMLPCXCPGB.
- LOVE this crochet hat. Anyone know where I can find a pattern to make one?
- I love this tutorial for seed starters from newspaper.
- These crochet nesting cups tutorial.
- This photograph for Earth day tomorrow.
- This happy spring yarn giveaway.
- The Blater blog - For Bloggers who barter.
- This camera bag (in Rose - Pewter) is on my birthday wishlist.
- This cute pattern for crochet Pacifier Straps.
- I’m selling a Heart-to-Heart Baby sling. I paid 60$ for it, and I’m selling it for 30$. It’s navy blue with tiny white dots on it. It’s for an average sized mom, though it is adjustable. Let me know if you’re interested. It’s a great sling for nursing, as well as wearing your baby. I have numerous slings, so I’ve decided to sell some of them. (There is absolutely nothing wrong with it at all and it’s in excellent condition).
- A year ago this week (April 19th, 2010), I found out I was pregnant with baby #3. It feels like that was just yesterday... I swear.
- Last night I finished reading the book Arranged by Catherine McKenzie. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it. It was a quick & enjoyable read, but took me forever because I had a baby 20 weeks ago, otherwise I'd have finished it a lot sooner. (I started it the day before I went into labor or something like that).

Stuff that's Fascinating this week:
- Spring flowers that were here on April 20, 2011 are not yet here this year. Where are they?
- Have you read this article about the knitting needle stabbing? The comments are even funnier.

3.17.11 :: 143 weeks old/ 33 months old

Mack is 143 weeks old today and also 33 months old.
Getting him to sit still is becoming quite challenging.

Sean's sick today again (runny nose + a cough), and yesterday, while I was in the middle of feeding Quentin, and Mack needed to get dressed to go to daycare. I'm arguing with Mack to start getting ready and Sean turns to me and says "It's hard having three boys, eh mommy?" The stuff that comes out of this kid’s mouth kills me in laughter. Then tonight, we're at the dinner table (I was solo parenting tonight) and Mack turns to me and says "You're going to try to get me to eat this, right?" I swear, I almost chocked on my food it was priceless. I had made a pot roast in the slow cooker. Turns out, Mack convinced me to make him Kraft Dinner, Sean convinced me to make him Chef Boyardee (yep, the crap my kids actually like, right?) and I had pot roast. It was absolutely delicious (pot roast, not the other crap).

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
(Mack wore a few different shades of green to daycare, I had a green shirt (I don't own green pants, which is fine by me, Quentin wore a green sleeper today and Sean refused to wear green).

This morning I took Quentin to the CLSC to get weighed in, and he's finally hit the 10 lbs (and 1.5 oz) mark. The last 2 weeks he gained 25 grams per day, and this past week he gained 22 grams per day. I wonder if he's finally slowing down and the weight gain won't be as fast anymore.

My boys hanging out in bed today.

Any of my readers do graphic work that will work for yarn? If that's you... and this interests you - please email me at knitpurlmama at gmail dot com.

I was a bit tired last night (as I am most evenings) and I totally forgot to announce the winner of the copy of Arranged by Catherine McKenzie. I printed out all my recent comments since starting this contest and put them into a hat. The winner is.....

RHODA!

Congrats!

Today’s Link Love:
- Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards Points: BKKCSBBMSPNSPGB
- This dinosaur tail tutorial!
- I find this article funny!
- 10 free Pampers Gifts to Grow Points: T9PDXPKKGA3M4GK (This code will expire 03/22)
- I love this Moma Umbrella stand!
- Love these hand knit socks.
- Love this appointment clock.
- Love these knitted postcards.
- This is a funny video. I am still laughing!