06.09.10 :: 103 weeks old

Mack is 103 weeks old today.

This morning I started out my morning with a yoga class. I started it today. I was supposed to start last week, but getting locked out of my office didn’t really help me get there on time (as my yoga mat was locked in my office with my purse, keys, etc). The class was very relaxing. I felt great the rest of the day. There was just 2 of us in the class today. A third is supposed to join us next week (or maybe the week after, the teacher wasn’t sure).

This afternoon after doing some groceries, I finally put together the loot bags for Mack’s birthday party. I can’t wait. It’s going to be a lot of fun. And I love doing the loot bags. I get joy out of it. I can’t believe my baby is turning 2. Where has time gone? I also made sure to take care of some laundry & dishes, and then headed to Mack’s class for his class’ songfest. Each class does it every year until the class that they graduate in (where they have a graduation ceremony instead). Mack won’t move on to the next class (that Sean is moving out of on Monday) until the fall, but this is their “year end” party as some kids will be moving to Sean’s class next week.


As soon as Mack saw me when I arrived he freaked out and left the rug that his entire class was sitting on. Then when my mother arrived a few minutes after me, after songfest had already started, he freaked out again, and ran to her. My mom came to sit on the floor with him next to the carpet and tried to get him to participate, while I tried to snap some photos.


My mom got him involved, even got him to wear his ladybug hat, which he refused to wear for a while.

And somehow, she even got him back on to the carpet with his class. Go mom!

It was a cute show. Even if it did start with a ton of the kids crying.

I discovered this new product by POM. They now have these whole wheat pita pockets. They’re delicious. Especially when you fill them with greek salad. I had it for lunch & dinner today, they were just that good.


After Songfest I ran to my class at Ariadne. My mother brought the kids home from daycare, and luckily for me, there wasn’t too much traffic going downtown. Just a little. That was okay with me, though, as I had some good music to listen to. Today we learned (Stem Stitch – pictured above) to cast off (makes a nice stretchy bind-off). I like.


We were also shown how to properly pick up stitches on an arm band, where there are decreases or bind off stitches, as well (pictured above) shown a method for grafting stitches together under the arm. It was a nice evening and I learned a few new things. Next week we are to bring in any items we want to seam. Which is why I started Vestee. Just to have something to seam. I’m now done the first part of the front & back and I’m working on the first sleeve. (Long sleeve version). Progress photos to come tomorrow. Promise.

Mack opened the car door next to him yesterday while I was driving. I have to now start making sure I lock the doors before starting to drive. I couldn’t believe it. Has any of your children ever done this before? I am assuming that it won’t happen again if the doors are locked. I could have sworn my car auto locks the door after I’ve reached a certain speed (I think it’s 20 km per hour). Maybe I’m wrong. In any case, he got the door open and I was driving on the highway somewhere that I couldn’t stop. I managed to veer the car a little to get the door to shut (though, still not 100% closed) until I was able to stop the car. Unreal the things my boys try to do!

There was a nasty accident on Decarie on the opposite side I was driving. A red car was flipped over and facing the wrong way. It seemed 2 other cars had crashed into each other as well. Why is it that everyone had to stop to look (from the side I was on, even though there is a fence up and it’s not that easy to see anyhow?) It caused a major traffic jam on the side I was on, and it shouldn’t have. As soon as we passed the accident area, it was clear. Not a stitch of traffic. It drives me insane. Now I’m curious as to what happened on the highway.

ps- Just a reminder that I'm throwing a contest for this entire month! Details are here.

06.08.10

I kept Mack home from school today. He has a really bad runny nose (which seems to be 100% better now, probably because he rested at home today). It wasn’t even clear runny. It was green runny (which usually is a sign of infection/virus). Daycare told me to keep him home. His songfest is tomorrow, and I want him to be in tip top shape for that, so I kept him home.

Sean on the other hand, went to school today, but didn’t really have a good day there. He’s been a tad challenging lately. I’m not sure if it’s because he’s moving to the next class next week, or what, but he hasn’t been 100% cooperative. I’m hoping this attitude changes.

I did get to nap today. I actually napped while Mack took his afternoon nap, and boy was it appreciated. I don’t ever get to nap during the day, except for maybe on the occasional Saturday (rainy) afternoon. I woke up still tired though, and probably felt even worse. I’ve been feeling like we’ve been non-stop on the run lately, and I’ve been feeling a tad run down. Hopefully after Father’s Day things will start to slow down a bit. My next 2 weeks are absolutely jam packed. I’m actually looking quite forward to a little down time in 2 weeks. I just need to make it until then. I think I can do it. I’ve also been going to bed wicked early lately. I find it helps. The boys seem to be getting up earlier and earlier as the sun rises earlier and earlier. The longest day of the year isn’t even upon us yet (June 21st, I believe), and I really need to get some black-out blinds to put behind the curtains in the boys rooms. This early morning wake-up business is killing me. I need more sleep.

Oh! I forgot to mention! Last night we had our first ever fresh from the garden Caesar salad with dinner. It was absolutely fantastic. I was super upset that there wasn’t enough lettuce leaves for seconds. Soon we should start having more leaves on the plants, and there will plenty for seconds. Ahhh, I love summer salad season. I love our garden. It makes me über happy.

You want to know what else I forgot to tell you? The other day, (couple of days ago, can’t remember which one), I found my cell phone. I was in shock. You know, the one that I thought I lost? Yeah, it was under my desk, at the back. How it got under there, I haven’t the faintest idea. Well, since I like my old cell phone better, and have been using that, I gave my lost but found cell phone to Jamie, since it was the same one he was using, but his had a cracked screen & wasn’t holding the charge anymore. Anyhow, I still can’t believe it. Especially since I called it from sitting at my desk, and I can’t figure out why it never rang, as it had been left on, when I lost it.

Speaking of lost things, my Ishbel is still missing. Damn angry.

The lucky winners today are:
- 1 lucky winner of a one year (4 issues) subscription to KnitCircus : GIRL KNITS!
- 3 lucky winners of a copy of the Summer Pattern Collection (Issue 10) from KnitCircus: SARAH B, KRISTO & NADINE!
- 2 (instead of 1) lucky winners get a copy of my Collection sock designs: YARNHOG & YVETTE!

Please make sure I have your email addresses, so I can email Yarnhog & Yvette my PDF and that I can pass on your information to KnitCircus to get you your prizes. (I’m not directly issuing your prize to you).

Next week I’ll be giving away one copy of the following patterns by Mona Schmidt: Kamouraska, Rill, Lili Kimono, Gilet de Tricot and Toddler Tee. Thank you Mona for donating the prizes.

06.07.10 :: 179 weeks old

Sean is 179 weeks old today.

Sean had his last swim lesson today with Dana. She’s been an awesome teacher. She’s taking the summer off from teaching, so she won’t be Sean’s teacher anyhow, and I’m not even sure she would have been, as Sean is advancing to the next level next session. Mack has his last swim lesson tomorrow. Very excited for the 2 week break in between sessions (I registered the kids for the next session tonight, both will be taking swimming lessons at the same time next session, so happy to only have to run to the pool once a week next session). The break will be nice, I just feel like we’ve been non-stop running lately. Time for a little relax time.

I ran some errands today with my mom. I needed to get some stuff on my list (ingredients for Mack’s birthday cake – which I tested out today but still needs some tweaking, a spring form cake pan, a potty ring for each bathroom that doesn’t already have one (as there sometimes is no time to run to the bathroom that has the ring for the toilet if Sean has to go “now”), amongst some other things. We also stopped into Dumoulin, where my sister has a hook-up. I was going to pre-pay for that Sigma lens (which Dumoulin doesn’t have on their website), but the guy convinced me on another lens, a 70-300mm Nikon lens, and for the price he gave it to me for, I couldn’t say no. He also said that I would get much better photos with a 70-300mm lens, than a lens that is technically 2 in 1, (18-55 and 55-200), etc, which when you’re putting 2 lenses into one, you’re losing quality (according to him). I really hope that I didn’t make the wrong decision on getting this lens. (And thank you to my husband for the most wonderful birthday/anniversary gift). Does anyone have either of these 2 lenses? What’s your opinion?

ps- Just a reminder that I'm throwing a contest for this entire month! Details are here. First set of prizes are being given out tomorrow!

06.06.10

Today I went to see Totem (Cirque du Soliel) with my mother & grandmother. I took my mom for mother’s day. The show was excellent. The only thing that was a problem was the smelly lady sitting next to me. I had to switch seats with my grandmother and sit on the end (we had an aisle 3 seats). It wasn't even perfume. It was like soap she washed herself with or a lotion she put on or the shampoo she washed her hair with - something. Made me soooooooooooooo sick that I didn't enjoy sitting there for the entire first half of the show. (As well, this lady (who seemed to be a grandmother there with her daughter or daughter-in-law and her 2 grandkids), pulled out a little teddy bear, and started making it dance to the music, as well, she was petting it as if it were a real pet). If you have the chance to go see Totem, I recommend it. It seems to be playing in Montreal until July 11th, 2010.

 
This afternoon while I was out, Sean & Mack went with my sister, to her niece’s 5th birthday party. (Birthday girl is wearing black sweater). Sean & Mack are sitting on the floor in this group shot. They had a good time, and I got to put together a gift for a girl!

I made her a bead kit, personalized with her name on it.

And I filled it with beads & findings. Oh what fun! (I heard her mommy likes to bead too!) What 5 year old girl doesn’t like to bead? I know when I was 5, I used to love that kind of stuff. Beading, friendship bracelets, you know, girly stuff! I hope she likes it!

I tried washing Sean’s soccer jersey then drying it to shrink it. No such luck. I’ll have to hem the bottom of the jersey inside to “tuck” it under. Grrr. It looks like a dress on him.

Tonight after dinner at my parents house, we watched the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Philadelphia Flyers, and now I’m zonked, so I’m going to head to bed. Sean has his last swimming lesson in the morning for this current session, so we don’t want to be late!

ps- Just a reminder that I'm throwing a contest for this entire month! Details are here. First set of prizes are being given out on Tuesday!

06.05.10

Sean started soccer this morning. He’s on the purple team, The Bubblegum Team. They started out this morning with some stretches. They look so cute in their oversized jerseys (which I tried shrinking in the laundry today, but no luck, the jersey just won’t shrink).

They did some warm ups kicking the ball to one parent.
(Jamie went up while I stayed on the sidelines with Mack).

They practiced scoring on the net.
Sean’s a pro.
Really.

Action kicking photo. I love it.

Then it came down to game time. They were playing the blue team.
Not sure what the blue team was called. I think maybe the Gumdrops.
They were split into 2 teams of 5. (11 kids on the team, 10 were there today).
When Sean’s BFF Zachary was on first,
and was time for Sean to go up, they wanted to play together.
So cute. I’m going to ask the coach next time if they be on the same scrimmage team.

When Sean’s turn was happening, Sean scored for his team.
You can see him in purple in control of the ball!

Luckily we managed to find a soccer ball to entertain Mack on the sidelines. All Mack wanted was to go play on the field with Sean. He won’t even be able to play for 2 more summers. This year it’s the 2006 babies the youngest level, next year 2007 then the year after will be 2008 (Mack was born June 2008).

Though, he was a good sport.

The team got popsicles after the game. Every kid is on popsicle duty for one game. We’re on duty July 3rd. Popsicles or freezies? Hmmm....

Sean & Zach enjoying a popsicle after the game.


This afternoon while Mack napped…
Sean & I went outside during a brief period of sunshine to make a mess.

Oh, Bubbles are so much fun!

And this Handy Manny tool is really neat too.


Sean was able to make large bubbles as well as small ones.

We had a fun time making a mess.
That’s what summer is all about!

Last night I started a new project. I need a quick project for my finishing class with Mona Schmidt. It needs to be done by June 16, 2010, the final class. I started a baby vest, as it’s probably the only reasonable thing I could knit in such a short period of time, for the class. I’m making the long sleeved version. I am loving a) how fast it’s knitting up and b) the stitch pattern. So far, so good. Will keep you up to date on my progress. It’s a really nice teal shade of Cascade 220 Superwash, with a hint of a heather to it. I like the colorway. I’ve already finished the first part of the back and now I’m working on the first part of the front. Someone on Ravelry finished one in 6 days, so I’m hoping that my week and a half that I have left to work on it, is enough time.

Today’s Link Love:
- I wanted to get this PDF to knit, but someone beat me to it. I’ll have to wait until she relists it. I want to knit a wonky jellyfish!
- Can’t believe this guy is knitting 7 socks on one circular needle. Is he insane??
- I want this lens. Hoping I can get it as a birthday/anniversary gift this year. Crossing my fingers. The lens I’m shooting with now, is 18-55mm and not acceptable for the soccer field! Must get a longer zoom!

Today’s Link Hate:
- Just the other day I picked up the cat glass for my friend since I happened to be at a Mcdonalds that had one. She’s collecting them and now is only missing the Shrek glass. (There’s Fiona, Shrek, The Cat & The Donkey). Well, what do you know, the glasses were recalled. She’s pissed. At least she can still look at them. Just not drink out of them.

ps- Just a reminder that I'm throwing a contest for this entire month! Details are here.

06.04.10 :: Yarn P0rn Friday

Yarn P0rn Friday brings you this lovely skein of Natural Cascade Magnum. I want to make a cowl with it – I love how chunky& soft it is. I’ve been digging chunky yarns too lately. This skein was picked up at Chilliwack Wool & Craft in British Columbia as part of my birthday presents from Vancouver this year. I used the birthday money that I received from several people to get the yarn. This yarn will definitely keep me busy for a while, until my yarn diet of 2010 is over. Kind of makes me glad my birthday is in the middle of the year.

Today after daycare we hung out in the backyard. I decided to bring out the potty, just in case, so while I was planting, I wouldn’t have to break to run into to take Sean to the bathroom. Let me tell you, that I am so proud of Sean. I caught this photo just before he made you know what, for the first time in the potty. We are so extremely proud of him. And let’s hope that we can continue to get him to do his business on the potty as well as just peeing. Apparently “number 2” is the harder than getting them to just pee in the toilet. Sorry if this is too much information for you. It’s my blog, and I’m damn proud of Sean! (And one day, he’ll probably kill me for taking this photo!)

We hired a new gardener to mow the low. Ha, just kidding. It’s a fisher price toy.
Oh, and finally a garden update! (With many more to come over the summer)

Finally placed my “welcome to my garden” stone in the garden near the tomatoes.


Sean wants to show you that the Zucchini plants are growing nicely.


We have some beans sprouting. (Stringless beans)


I planted celery today. I’ve never planted celery before, we’ll see how it goes this year.


We have some cherry tomatoes starting on the plant already.


As well, some larger tomatoes.
(I believe they’re Fantastic Tomatoes, but I’ll have to double check).
And the Romaine lettuce is doing extremely well.
We’ll be eating fresh Caesar salad before we know it.
(Our Pomme Head lettuce is doing well too,
only a matter of time before we have fresh salad to eat).

Got one more free Huggies Point for you: BJCPN-JNFMS-SPPGB which is worth 1pt.

Today’s Link Love:
- Love this baby mobile tutorial.
- This inspired me to re-organize in my office, more to come on that in an upcoming post.
- This magazine seems really cool. I wonder if it’s sold in stores here. I’ll check out Chapters on my next run.
- Loving I Am Woman from Sex & The City 2 Soundtrack. It’s actually performed (sung) by the 4 girls.
- Also loving this version of Empire State of Mind, also on the SATC2 Soundtrack. (I got my CD in the mail (thank you Chapters!) and cannot stop listening to it!

Today’s Link Hate:
- Did you hear? Jamie Salé & David Pelletier, the famous skating duo are divorcing? So sad.

I started a new knit project tonight so that I have something to seam on my last Finishing Class with Mona Schmidt on June 16th. I will show you progress tomorrow & tell you all about it then.

ps- Just a reminder that I'm throwing a contest for this entire month! Details are here.

CONTEST!!

It’s the month of my birthday and I’m throwing a contest!

All you have to do, is leave comments during the month of June (on any post at all). I’m counting any comment post marked in June 2010 as an entry. (Please do not leave useless comments, they will not be appreciated). In order to score extra entries into this contest, blog about this contest, linking it for other people to come check it out – and then come back and leave me a comment with the blog entry that you’ve written about it in. Easy ways to win!

The prizes? So far I’ve managed to round up a few prizes. (I’m working on a few other prizes, so come back to check out what else I’ll be giving away!) I’m thinking about giving away a few prizes each end of the week in the month of June (so the first set of prizes will be given out on Tuesday, June 8th, then Tuesday, June 15th, Tuesday, June 22nd and lastly Tuesday June 29th as June started on a Tuesday! Why Tuesday? I was born on a Tuesday!

I think I will also ask questions throughout the month and if you guess correctly, then you get an extra bonus entry into the contest. (You’ll know when it’s a contest question, I’ll clearly mark it!)

Oh, yes… you want to know what some of the prizes are?

I will be giving away:
- 1 lucky winner will win a one year (4 issues) subscription to KnitCircus.
- 3 lucky people will win a copy of the Summer Pattern Collection (Issue 10) from KnitCircus.
- 1 lucky winner will get a PDF Collection of all my sock designs.

Stay tuned to see what else I will be giving away this month! Happy commenting!

ETA: YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS MUST BE LEFT IN YOUR COMMENT IF IT'S NOT ALREADY ATTACHED TO YOUR LOG IN. IF I HAVE NO WAY TO REACH YOU - THERE IS NO WAY YOU WILL BE ABLE TO WIN. THANKS!

06.03.10

My sister was giving away some pieces of furniture, that actually belong partly to my old bedroom set (though who knows which pieces actually used to go with what, as we each have different pieces from our old bedroom sets (which were custom made). Sean’s sleeping in my sister’s old bed, and shortly, when Mack gets into his big boy bed, he’ll be taking my old bed from my childhood room in my parents home. They’re pretty much almost identical beds. Anyhow, these corner units (as seen above) went at the end of a wall unit. My sister had 2 of them (2 different sizes actually) to give away, so I took one for my office & the other for the playroom. I have already put one in my office and it’s totally reorganized my office for the better. I am loving the new shelf space. Thanks sis! (And instead of keeping my powder/laundry room (which is off my office) door open all the time, maybe it’ll keep the cat out of the toilet, if I keep the door shut!)

Today I had lunch at a friend’s house. Ended up staying for a while and then helped her son (once he got home from school) make a birthday card for his dad, who celebrates his birthday today. I had so much fun digging through the jar of foam alphabet stickers. Must go get a jar. Those letters are fun!

Today I was getting frustrated with my mini skeins for my babette blankets. So I turned some parts from a kid toy. I had received this toy from my friend Eugenie, who gave them to me for the boys. I hadn’t given it to them yet, as we have a lot of stuff in the house – I guess I was saving it for a rainy day. Well, I thought they would be excellent to turn into a mini swift! I started with the above creation. Then I thought about it even more, and then came up with this creation below:

And it works just wonderfully!

Jamie and I finally watched the last 2 hours of the last season of 24. They totally left it open for a movie. Do you watch 24? What did you think of the ending of the series? Are you happy with the way they ended it?? I’m kind of glad they finished it after Season 8. I don’t think Jack Bauer could have gotten himself anymore shot or stabbed or in the line of fire any more than he has, and not ending up dead. He’s like a cat with 9 lives and used them all up.

Today I love:
- Ruffled girl bums on outfits.
- This necklace.
- Lollypops from this shop.
- Love this ring.
- This bowl is really neat.
- These soaps are really awesome.
- So are these soaps.

06.02.10 :: 102 Weeks Old

Mack is 102 weeks old today.

This morning Sean came to me and said “Mommy, it’s not Lellow anymore, it’s Yellow”. I am so proud of him for realizing his pronunciation, and correcting himself. For the longest time, Yellow was “Lellow”. I thought it was cute, but I’m glad he’s corrected himself.

This morning, I got locked out of office. My keys, purse, yoga mat, shawl (we were asked to bring a shawl for the ending of the class), Mack’s library book for school, were all locked in my office. I made some phone calls. I rang neighbours bells. I got one neighbour to help me, not realizing that he was on his way to his grandmother’s funeral (I dropped a condolence card in their mailbox earlier today after realizing), but he still couldn’t get my door open. Another neighbour (teenager) whose parents were out of town, suggested that one of the other neighbours is a handyman. Since my dad was in the city this morning, and Jamie was already at work, I rang the guy’s bell. He wasn’t in his house, but I found him across the street, ironically. I introduced myself and he helped me out. He managed to get my door open, and now I need a new door handle. (The least of my worries). It’s just too bad that I missed my first yoga class. There’s always next week. I just really wanted to be there today.

Mid afternoon I headed into the city to take a class on Finishing with Mona Schmidt. The class was being held at Ariadne. You may know Mona from her pattern Embossed Leaves in Interweave Knits. You maybe also know her new collection, Lili & Leo. Mona’s awesome, and I’m so glad to be taking a class with her. In the class with me, are Madeleine (in the pictured above), Jocelyn & a woman I’ve never met before Janet. I really enjoyed my evening.

We learned how to properly follow stitches to weave in ends.


We learned mattress stitch to seam up on a stockinette stitch.

We also learned how to do mattress stitch on reverse stockinette stitch.

I learned a few new tricks tonight and realized I was doing a few things wrong.
Classes are always so much fun to take. Never can stop learning in life!

View Full Album

The June 2010 Desktop Calendars are up! Just like previous months, they’re free for you to use. From left to right you have Birdhouses by Cynthia, Hills by ScoutJ, Red Flowers by Carol & Lilacs by Robyn (me!). Open the image you’d like, right click on the image, and save as your desktop background. Voila!

Free Huggies Points: (for those of you whom collect)
BFRBG-QHTCT-XQPGB – for 5 points
BFQPQ-MZTD-XBPBG – for 5 points
BRSJT-FPNPX-PQPGB – for 5 points
BHQXZMKTGBZRPGB – for 1 point
BHQWTLDZFKJTPGB – for 1 point
BFSJXBBWQDCCPGB – for 5 points
BFQCWHRKQMLKPGB – for 5 points
BFQFBHGCPKGDPGB – for 5 points

06.01.10

Wow! It’s June. How’d that happen? Really!?

I was emailed some photos from the wedding on Sunday, and I absolutely love this one of Jamie & I. I am waiting to find out if I can get my hands on the full resolution file, but in the meantime, I’ve sent it off to Kodak to print (it was a Kodak Gallery photo album that I was sent, and I had no idea I can print off that – I learned something new today). I can even pick it up for free at one of many spots throughout Montreal. (I wasn’t going to pay 2.99$ to ship a .19 cent print).

This evening after work, I went with my friend Kia (as Sean has nicknamed her) to see Sex & The City 2. I absolutely loved it. The soundtrack even was fabulous. (I think I’m going to order a copy of the Soundtrack). I didn’t realize what a long movie it was, and we got out of the theatre a lot later than expected. Jamie was already in bed when I got home (and I should have been long asleep as well). I totally would see this movie again – when it comes out on DVD. Until then, I’ll get the soundtrack to keep me happy. I love the song that the 4 girls sing together as Karaoke. I have it stuck in my head, and I checked – it’s actually on the soundtrack.

Happy Birthday Madeleine! Hope you had a fantastic day!

Today’s Link Love:
- Love this ring.
- A camera ring too!
- Love this very cute pincushion necklace.
- Love this metric bracelet. Or this one too.
- This neat photo.
- Find this art very freaky but cool at the same time.
- Oh, and I just LOVE this cherry umbrella. Well, cuz I ♥ cherries.