Bean Bag Fun

This is Wednesday loving her bean bags. She said "I love them." And so I asked her to show me so I could take a picture.

Months and months ago I came across this tutorial @ Whimsy Love through my Craftzine RSS feed @ Livejournal for bean bags. Wednesday was a wee babe but I thought they were super cute and super easy and so I bookmarked them for later making.

Recently I rediscovered Whimsy's blog and stumbled upon the tutorial again. I thought, what a great way to teach Wednesday something! At first I was going to make letter cut outs for the alphabet but that was a little bit overzealous even for me. So I thought, "Hey! Why not use the bean bags to teach Wednesday her colours and shapes?!" And an idea was born. (An idea that is working I might add. Mind you, Wednesday already knows her shapes really well.)

Being the always-wanting-what-I-do-not-have kind of gal, the project that started out with on-hand supplies quickly turned into a thirty dollar gig thanks to the needs for some really pretty fat quarters (for the cut outs) and purple fleece (I couldn't find purple felt at the store I was at.)but, it was worth it because they turned out sew pretty! And using popping corn was really quite brilliant. Super eco friendly, and I think it gives the perfect texture, sound and weight that makes bean bags super fun for little ones.

EDIT: The thing is, I have been sewing on some level since I was but a child (I think I learned how to sew by hand age six or seven.) but I haven' really done much of anything save a random project now and again in almost ten years. So, recently the few projects I have attempted have been going very well. I think I might be a better seamstress now than I was then. Due mostly to patience (more now) than before. This project was perfect for practice and confidence.

I had initially thought I was giving a set to an undecided toddler (a cousin, Sidney etc.) but they turned out so vibrant and so pretty that I don't want to share any more. Shucks.

Fourth Installment of the Sleep Saga

Last night Wednesday did awesome. She woke even later for that first waking and then it was smooth sailing until six this morning. I on the other hand slept like poop. I couldn't sleep until she woke up that first time which was not until eleven thirty and then after that was a fitful restless sleep. I think I had psyched myself up for a night that would be horrible since the night previous went so well. I, apparently was wrong.

Maybe it IS a pattern. Wouldn't that be super duper?!

And, in the spirit of Wednesday photos since I do not have a new recent picture to share, here is a picture of Wednesday a year ago almost to the day.

Sleep Like a Camel

Well, last night was night number three of no more bottles for my no longer a baby. It started off pretty good with Wednesday waking late for her usual ten pm bottle. She woke at eleven and went back to sleep in less than five minutes. I thought great! Now if the rest of the night could go this smoothly we would be rockin'!

Well, it went...even better! Yes ladies and gentlemen, Wednesday slept for seven and a half hours straight! And I slept just as long, not waking halfway through the night wondering why she hasn't woke up yet. We both woke refreshed and rested. I even woke at six am and waited a full hour for her to wake at seven am.

I am so happy. I am not expecting to happen two nights in a row this soon but I tell you it is one heck of a welcome reprieve from the hourly wakings of the past year.

Now, Wednesday is asking me to go to the park every thirty seconds and since it is the coolest day in a week I am obliged to take her. We'll talk soon folks.



In celebration of a good nights sleep, instead of a picture of Wednesday sleeping, here is a pic of her from this morning, bare butted and bed headed just the way I love her!

Day Two of Water Withdrawl

It is only 8:04 and I am on my second mug of coffee with fervor. Last night was our first night of no water at all. It started off really well, almost too well.

Wednesday woke up at her usual two hour interval from bedtime and without water went back to sleep in less than five minutes. Score. She even stayed sleeping for two more hours. (Too bad my period showed up and kept me awake for that two hours.)

Midnight came and she woke and cried and slept and woke and cried and slept and woke and cried and slept until two thirtyish. That was a tough couple hours since I hadn't slept yet.

The next five hours brought a few wakes up, but I think we were all exhausted from the hours previous and so we got some rest as family off and on until seven this morning.

We are pretty tired, and I think nap time will come early for both Wednesday and myself but all in all this is going much better than I thought it would this soon.

Another picture of my babe sleeping...this one is from the end of January.

Oh That Elusive Slumber.

Hi there folks. I just wanted to write a little bit about last night. We started weaning Wednesday off of her umpteen middle of the night bottles of water. It went really well. Ron even stayed in the bed the entire night.

Back story:

Birth to ten months: Breastfed until my supply dried up

Ten months to 14 months: formula during the night started out as one bottle climbed up to three or four 8oz bottles

14 months to 17 months: milk during the night. But this was constipating her due to the ridiculous amount she was taking in over the course of the night.

So at 17 months, thanks in part to the flu she went from milk to water at night. I read (I believe in a parenting community here at Livejournal)that if babies are waking up a billion times at night for a bottle give them water, babies don't wake up for just water. It made a lot of sense. Well, they were wrong, at least where my baby was concerned. At two years she is waking up for water almost hourly. And when it is not for water it is because her diaper is soaked through from the water she is drinking or because her stupid bottle leaked, or her diaper wicked out and now she and the sheet underneath her is soaking wet. And of course she won't go back to sleep without...a bottle of freaking water.

Now before you say anything, or judge me for being a lazy parent this is not the lazy parent approach. This is the 'I have not had a full eight six hours sleep since I was six months pregnant approach' and yes, sometimes it is easier to give her that bottle. And sometimes I can't let her scream all night because other people in the house have to work or go to school in the morning. And did I mention I'm tired?

But, this week was the last straw. Wednesday has been waking more and more frequently due to teething, the heat, wet diapers etc and Ron and I are getting less and less sleep as time goes by.

So, I finally decided I don't care how tired I am at night, or how badly others need sleep for work in the morning, Wednesday is getting no more water during the night. Well, the first night went much better than expected. She only woke a few times and I only gave her one bottle. Not being soaking wet really helped keep her more comfortable and therefor sleeping longer.

It went so well though that we are keeping it going and by weeks end we should be at a resolution. I am really optimistic. (It doesn't hurt that I am so tired, her whines and cries fall on deaf sleeping ears.

I should mention, that her naps have been growing in length some as long as three and half hours so she is getting rest. Just not as much as she/we should be.

And just to remind myself of what a sleeping baby looks like here is Wednesday sleeping last May. :)

When Life Gives you Zucchini, you make cake!

The single zucchini from our garden. Looks ginormous next to a mini muffin yes?



Wednesday kept calling it a "Keemy" and asking to hold on to it.



This was probably the most moist, the most tasty, the most delicious cake bread I have had in ages. I wish I could take credit for the recipe but alas I cannot. I just baked it to perfection. The recipe came via someone on my friends list on Livejournal. It is here at Virtual Cities. I will paste the text out for you too though.

Lemon/Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup canola oil

3-1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

4 teaspoons baking powder

Juice of 1 lemon

Chopped zest of 1 lemon

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup frozen Maine wild blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour two 5 x 9-inch loaf pans. Beat eggs; add sugar and beat until well mixed. Add canola oil and beat well. Add lemon juice, zest, and zucchini and mix well with a wooden spoon.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, soda, and baking powder together. Add to the zucchini mixture; mix well. Fold in the blueberries. Pour mixture into the loaf pans and bake approximately 55 minutes until done (test with a cake tester). Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes prior to removing from pans.

Totally worth the effort it takes to grow, pick, shave and shred the zucchini!

For the Love of Snow Cones and County Fairs

Yesterday we braved the heat (37 degrees Centigrade with the humidex) to venture to the 151st Stirling Agricultural Fair. The tractor pulls although very cool, were set up so that you had to do too much walking in the sun to get to where you needed to be whether it be to watch the pulls, ride the carousel or get back to your truck. Because of this we did not stay very long, I think maybe an hour and a half tops. We managed to squeeze in a small petting zoo, a look at real cows, a carousel ride (Wednesday's first) and a snow cone shared with Daddy. We did meet a woman with an Alpalca farm who sells the softest wool ever. I am on a mission to learn to knit this month so that I can justify driving out of town for her wool!

Missie Krissie giveaway.

I stumbled upon this giveaway from Missie Krissie jewelry designs through the Flickr group I made it myself. The picture had a link to the blog which was having a giveaway. My favourite kind of post.

I do love the idea though. I am a fan of all things shiny and recycled so this just seems to be a match made in heaven.



The pictures although creative in their garden-esque appearance are kind of busy. But this close up of the spoon caught my eye. Also there is this one which gives you a great idea of the utter practicality and sheer prettiness of the piece.



You can view some of her jewelery pieces here at her online shop but I could not find a listing for the trees. Hopefully I win one *grin* but if not I would love to purchase one. She has a blogger located here and her flickr set for the trees is here.

Indoor Pool!

We went to Tara and Sidney's house for a play date today. Sidney got a bigger kiddie pool and the kids loved it. The last twenty minutes or so Wednesday was outside of the pool just pouring water from one container to another and was really enjoying herself. So, when we got home I thought I would continue the water play with a tub on the floor in the living room. (It is just not the same in the real tub for Wednesday, I am not sure why.) But instead of playing *with* the water she insisted on playing *in* the water.












The aftermath.

I have had some mamas say I was brave to allow water in the living room but it didn't occur to me to do it otherwise. The kitchen is a galley kitchen and not very conducive to fun on the floor and the living room is hardwood (parquet) so I thought it would be hunky dory. It was and I can't wait to do it again. :)

Beer + Cupcakes = All Awesome

The thing I love most about baking before the smells and tastes and satisfaction is the giving and sharing. That is what I love most about baking, sharing my creations. No recipe is small enough to keep to yourself and so your family and friends all get a piece of tasty goodness. Yesterday I baked for my brother-in-law's 38th birthday. I made Stout Cupcakes from Martha Stewart's Cupcake book.
Funnily enough, it was my brother-in-law who gave me this book for my birthday last month so it only seems fitting that he receive the first batch of baked awesomeness.



And awesomeness they were. They tasted very much like gingerbread without the ginger due to the molasses and spices. They were incredibly moist and tasty and not to big or too sweet. The glaze is made from beer and icing sugar and adds that perfect bit of 'oomph'. They were so good.

Because these were not iced or piped with anything fancy, I printed up some little flags from marthastewart.com and I also photocopied a couple templates from the cookbook. They were the perfect touch. (It really is a wonderful book. Full of gorgeous photos and delectable recipes.)