a day in the life

Goodness!

2012-01-24T18:07:00.000-08:00

Where have I been? Being my homely little house wife self, that's what! As it so happens, I have nothing of importance to note. Holidays happened, good times were had, hobbies continued, people were seen.

All is well with the world.

This one keeps me on my toes.

This is my new favorite hat, from a free pattern that I found online. I've tried it a few slightly different ways, seeing what works, and what doesnt. I've also tried a big slouchy, that I'm not sure how I feel about yet. I've been crocheting more these days, trying my hand at different hats and styles. Keeping house and raising the kidlet keep my days content. And I so love the people I've been hanging out with. They save me from the insanity that lurks in the dusty corners of my quiet house.
I've taken up pot smoking.
I've taken up fun.
Trying to start some new habits, but old ways are much easier. I've lost the attention span to sit down and read a book, or perhaps I just havent picked up the right one yet. Either way, I miss reading.

Birthdays are looming in the near future, and I have no idea what to do. SIGH.Here, read this.

i thrifted...

2011-11-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

again! oh, how i love a nice successful thrift!

another beautiful blanket with nice pops of color! i think i'll keep this one on my computer chair, since i'm right beside the patio door to the deck. BR!
these wonderfully broken in vans that FIT! a couple cuties for ~~myself~~ sophie, and some bigger clothes for her as well.

yay!

I am back.

2011-11-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

*dusts off blog*With a sudden need to get out of the house this evening, I bundled Sophie up and we moseyed over to the thrift shop, open late on fridays, and found these. Love.

Then we picked up some Chinese food and orange juice, and came home.<3

Hello Again.

2011-09-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

While life isnt always as boring and uneventful as I usually make it out to be, its hard to remember the good fun moments, or even to put much meaning or significance behind them.

This morning Sprout and I went to our Gym Tots class and had a lot of fun. She's one of the older kids there, and this week had more kids in the class, so there was more fun and learning to be had. Sprout actually had more fun with swinging on the rings, the bars, balance beams and trampolines! I was quite impressed, as I was feeling iffy on the class this go around for some reason.
My friend Sev and her daughter K came over in the afternoon and we ended up going for a wonderfully lovely walk to the air park, around it, and back. So good to get out of the house and away from screens, especially when the weather is still nice!
This evening I was pleased to receive a phone call letting us know we got into the Mother Goose program at the rec center! Good thing I put our name on the 12 person wait list, yowza! I was looking at my planner, and we've got something to do every single day during the week! Fabulous! We've also started going to a new tot group, tomorrow will be our second visit, and we both really enjoyed it last week.

Last night I tried my hand at some kool-aid play dough. It was a success! Nice and pink! I managed to find some used play dough accessories the other day, so we hauled those out, and the play dough out of the fridge, and Sprout had a great time. She pretended the play dough was a baby, feeding it, carrying it, and I even heard her talking to it. She even put every thing away after I asked her too! Hurrah!
This evening, in another attempt to keep her away from her tv, we painted some rocks together, and it was pretty fun. I'm on a mission to try toddler friendly fun new things!

Sprout had a good day.

hard lessons.

2011-08-14T16:18:00.000-07:00

training myself to stop getting excited about anything. too many disappointments.

my life in pictures.

2011-05-02T19:07:00.000-07:00

Mark's had this little Ikea table for ever, and I finally gave it some love, pistachio green style.

This owl figure used to just be a worn out black, now she's pretty again.

My little deck table went sun yellow, but I think I need to cut the legs down still, it wobbles a lot.

I painted some pretty backgrounds the other night.

My new fun shelf, still needs some pretty papers mod podged to it I think.

One side of Sophie's new doll house.

The other side.

A different view. See? Made with two side table drawers. Awesome right?

The Scrappy Bunnies I sewed up for Easter.

Oh look. Its me.

That about sums it up nicely. When I have time to craft/create, I do it. Otherwise you can find me chasing after toddlers and looking for inspiration online.
Now? I have two issues of Cloth Paper Scissors to peruse through.
<3
Be well.

A Rainbow Birthday Party

2011-03-29T11:38:00.001-07:00

We had Sophie's 2nd birthday party this past weekend rather than her actual birthday, the 30th. My folks came up, and usually its easier to get people out on a weekend. Unless there is another birthday party the same day. I was a little bummed out with all the "No" replies to the invite, but it ended up just about perfect anyways.

Being a rainbow theme, it was pretty easy to decorate, and I had lots of fun doing so. I painted rainbows and hung them from the dining room chandelier, bought colored streamers and hung them across and down from a couple of tables. A few other party favors in rainbow colors, paper garlands, fabric buntings, my dad came home with a bunch of balloons. It was great, so wonderfully colorful and happy! Even the toddler dishes that I bought from Ikea were already colors of the rainbow, so I put them out as well, and I also bought a little wooden rainbow toy that Sophie played with after.

There were six toddlers including Sophie and they all got along pretty well, thankfully, not bad for a bunch of two year olds! They played, adults chatted, and as usual I ran around getting things done and taking pictures. My dad made a great carrot cake and the kids loved the cream cheese icing most of all, lol. Sophie actually blew out her candles too.

Sometimes its good I find such great things for cheap, the kids had lots to play with, even if they did have to share and take turns!

Sophie got a nice new bike from my folks, she can even reach the pedals already even if she doesnt know how to move her legs on them yet. Now she just needs a helmet.

Her actual birthday is tomorrow. I cant believe she's TWO. <3

Birthday!

2011-02-06T15:04:00.000-08:00

On the first I turned 29. I had a few days off from babysitting so Mark and I took advantage of it. Saturday last week we got a wonderful babysitter for Sophie and had an amazing dinner out, and saw Black Swan.

Awesome movie, equal parts of strange and uncomfortable, and keeps you guessing. It was so nice to be child free for a few hours. Our evening was quiet and pleasant! But you know what would be nice? Having a birthday where I DONT have any kind of health issue. Really. It would be super to feel totally great on a birthday. :P

On the Sunday we had a super yummy breakfast at Tarbell's in Cumberland before driving down to Nanaimo for an hour. I needed to oogle some books and I actually bought 3 and a mag, and a couple things from Micheal's as well. These books are awesome, with some very cute projects in them. I have a TON of fabric I need to start doing something with. The Stuffed mag is SO inspiring! I was looking at the Happiness Project book for a while, finally its in soft cover! I also thrifted 'the no-cry discipline solution' which better be good.

I picked up some glow in the dark bracelets for Sophie since the kids LOVE playing with them, and a little green plastic bucket for my Ponyo Project. I'm kind of determined to make Sophie a little felt Ponyo stuffie for her birthday. I'm almost certain she'll crap herself with joy, HAHAHA!

My folks were up this weekend and surprised me with Journal Bliss and I LOVE IT! Now I just need some alphabet stamps and I think I'll be set for a while.. LOL. They also gave me a little Valentines present, and a few things for Sophie. My mom and I seem to be on the same sort of wave length these days with the things we buy, and think of. Its always oddly funny when that happens. It was great to see them as always, and Sophie loves her grandparents.

It was a great birthday. There's been A LOT of assorted shopping and thrifting, and I've been finding wonderful things! I found some totally cute packaging tape for $0.88 a roll! Three different prints, and I bought two rolls of each, but I may have to go back and buy more.. they're so cute! Right now I'm very much into polka dots! I now have a polka dot shirt, mug, plate, snack bag, ribbons, and fabrics. Sophie is also spoiled, hahaha. She now has 3 different ride on cars. (omg, i know right?!) But then everything gets shared with the other kiddo as well, so.

Here's my cheeky lil' kid. I cant believe she's almost TWO. <3

oh my!

2011-01-28T21:36:00.000-08:00

FINALLY I'm feeling inspired and creative!!

Only after finding such awesome blogs/web pages/techniques that hit me hard enough.

Violette is the author from Journal Bliss, who's book I NEED! Finally I'm inspired to work on an art journal, that I've already started, and I've been busily cutting words and images out of magazines, and painting some pages.

Teesha Moore and her blog.
I watched her videos on quilted pillows, and so far I've made 3! I love it! Today I picked up more thrifted fabric for some more sewing fun.

not my photo, just an example!

Otherwise life continues on as usual. Lots of hanging out with toddlers and assorted kiddo activities. I've taken over the dining room table with all the stuff I've been working on lately. Earlier tonight Sophie and I played dress up and I got her wearing her big tutu, wings, other frilly bits, her hair in cute little pigtails, and necklaces! The pretties little fairy princess I ever did see! Photos to post another time. <3

Oh, and its my birthday on tuesday.

Hello!

2011-01-09T12:15:00.001-08:00

Its been a while, again, hasnt it?

Christmas went really well here. My folks came up, and helped me cook Christmas dinner, which we held here. Mark's family came over and everyone enjoyed everything, and went home happy, and I dont think I could have asked for anything more. Sophie enjoyed her presents though still isnt sure what Christmas is all about. We all got a nice haul. Hehe.

We held a small New Years party here, and had some friends come over. Mostly general schmoozing and a bit of karaoke. Mark even stayed upstairs and sang! I was completely impressed. I managed to thrift a cute little vintage looking dress a few days prior, so I dressed up for the party. Why bring in the New Year looking like a schmo? I felt pretty, and looked great! I may even dress up more often now.

This weekend we had a couple friends come up, who we havent seen in 6 months or so. We had a lot of fun, with karaoke, scrabble, and child minding. They being newly married and childless, admittedly use us as a buffer to help decide what age a child they're going to adopt later on. They were amazed at how I handle two toddlers and the trouble they get into. Yesterday morning before my #2 toddler showed up, we left Sophie at home with Mark, and went out for breakfast, and some wandering around downtown. Some much needed 'adult time' for myself which I *SO* very appreciated. It was wonderfully laid back and peaceful, we were able to take our time doing things and looking around. I managed to thrift a small SARK print, and a cute jean skirt that will go great with my cowboy boots in the spring. I also bought the last Harry Potter book, and got a tarot reading done which was very cool and insightful. I took notes!

I've also been reading through the Harry Potter books, and right now I've just started the Half Blood Prince. I love the books! All the little details that were never mentioned in the movies. Its great!

We've got birthdays coming up! I'm not sure what to do for any of them either.
It's been a fairly good time. I realize I need more 'adult' or 'me' time.

Its starting to look a lot like Christmas...

2010-12-19T15:27:00.000-08:00

Tins full of homemade cookies.

My pretty garland.

Under the tree.

Ta-Daaaa... the tree.

So, I've been making Christmas.
I hauled out the tree, decorated it, made more decorations for it, made decorations with the toddlers (sorta). I've been baking, shopping and present wrapping, making other assorted decorations and such, and I've been enjoying almost every minute of it. Wrestling away scissors and glue from toddlers, putting back ornaments that they rip off the tree, trying to come up with stocking stuffer ideas besides a big wad of chocolate.
Some stuff I've bought, some I've made, which I'm happy with. I've enjoyed gathering gifts for people this year.
What else am I doing?
Trying not to be so angry, and disappointed. Or at the very least, trying to not let it get to me.

Whats new?

2010-12-08T15:48:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a lot of reading lately, working my way through the Harry Potter series. I'm on the fourth book now, and already I'm enjoying them more than the movies. A few details better explained, and some other things that were never even touched on! I'm loving it.

And babysitting. Yep. I hang out with toddlers most days. Its a wonder my brain hasnt flat lined to a constant "WEEEEEEEEEEE!" yet.

Today I made myself three belly warmers. A scrappy layered tshirt one, a lined ribbed one, and a super nice purple fleece warmer than I'm wearing right now, and I'm so cuddly and warm! I love wearing layers, and this makes it even more fun. Also called Haramaki's, they're essentially just a tube top, worn around your middle, keeping your kidneys, liver, and other assorted bits nice and warm.

I've got three birds sewn up, and now I just need to attach them to one of the rings, and finish the mobile. At least that will be one finished! I've also been making a few other things here and there: hand warmers, and a tissue pouch. I'm still working on my tshirt rug. I feel a need to be creative, but sometimes I feel so stuck. My only source of inspiration these days are neat blogs that I come across.
Its an itch I cant always scratch.

I (and probably everyone else!) can really notice a difference when I dont take my 5htp or my daily vitamins. Like, WOW. Stay away from me before I bite your head off!

Yeah.

While I ponder life...

2010-11-23T20:20:00.000-08:00

Recently I've been thinking about my life and the lack of spectacular things I've done. Reading other blogs and such, to my surprise I find out that I am older than someone, and they have either started their own store, line, company, career, something awesome, etc.

I'm 28 years old, 29 this coming February. What do I have to show for my life, my accomplishments? I asked my mother this last night and she replied, "Oh, besides GIVING BIRTH AND RAISING A CHILD?!" and naturally I said, "Yeah, besides that."

I've never had a goal I've wanted or bothered to work towards. Sure there have been plenty of times I've been jealous of someone for some reason and asking myself "Why cant I do or be this?" Of course I want what I want when I want it, right now. I fail to acknowledge that people have been working hard for the things they have and do, whereas me, I havent done much. I havent wanted to BE anything. I've never 'found' myself, I've never done any other schooling since graduating high school. Honestly, back then I never thought I would have made it much past twenty, nearly certain I was going to kill myself at some point.

I've been weird and awkward since junior high, not much has changed, and now I'm nearing close to 30, and my god! I'm an adult! Now what?!
I've been seeing goal lists, '28 things before 29' for example, which I think is a wonderful idea. But I dont think my list would be very big. Just over 2 months till my birthday, I dont think I could get much done anyways. (OH hello self-doubt. Whats up?)

Will being a mom be enough for now? Things can always change, one never knows what the future will bring.

Sick.

2010-11-23T12:48:00.001-08:00

Being sick for the past week and a half really puts a kink in things. I havent done much at all besides mope around the house with kleenex in hand.
But today we're already fed, dressed, and nearly ready to leave the house. I dont get Kid #2 till this evening, so we have the day to actually do something, and it doesnt look too horrible outside! I'm thinking the consignment store, thrift store, bank, and starbucks, in no particular order. Hubby requested a few groceries.

Oh, and we have snow.

I think I need to start decorating for Christmas soon.

img from weheartit.

Wow.

2010-11-11T19:21:00.002-08:00

So, this time I have a good excuse for not blogging much. HAHA!
I've taken on babysitting full time. Imehjen is another girl, 2 weeks older than Sophie, her mother and I were in the same prenatal classes and such. I thought it'd be nice to help her out since she was always stuck for a good babysitter, gives Sophie and Im a buddy to hang out with everyday, and keeps me busier, and I get some money too. Its win-win all around. Its been a few days now, and the girls are getting along great, and its so entertaining to watch them, especially when they're really into playing and being silly!

Its funny, because last week I was thinking about how much stuff Sophie has (thanks to me) and how spoiled she was getting, when now that there's another kid in the house, its perfect, now there are enough toys to go around and distract them. I may need another foam chair though.

I have to admit, I do have alot of fun with them too. Last night, I turned my entire living room into a fort, with a few entrances, and I had thrown all the couch cushions on the floor and tossed a quilt over top. So the girls were rolling and falling around and generally enjoying themselves. It was super cute.

I've been a crafty, crafty girl!

2010-10-25T14:56:00.000-07:00

After browsing camera strap covers on etsy.com lately and cringing at paying over $30 for one, I skipped downstairs and made myself this:

Purposely left scrappy looking, I simply adore it. Even though its not quite what I wanted, I may have to make myself another one day. And now a friend wants me to make her one too, and another friend may want to buy one. OH!

I finished knitting the dude toque I've been working on, and I think someone is interested in buying it. Just a couple missed stitches circled in this photo.

Apparently in Japan, the crochet earrings style is very popular. Maybe I need to get my stuff at a couple more different places in town. HRM.

I'm wearing a skirt today. Can you believe it? ME. IN A SKIRT. Maybe I'll post a picture..

I've started a 'snow day' hat, pattern taken from A Beautiful Mess for Sophie, and a crochet circle fall garland. I love the look of both, and think they would be super cute to have.

I've been doing a lot of blog browsing lately, finding some great, crafty, inspirational people, and have nicely added them to my google reader. I guess I should be leaving them comments with links to my blog, right? How else am I supposed to get myself out there and make friends?

xo, Fran.

Also..

2010-10-21T11:25:00.001-07:00

I cut Sophie's bangs the other day. This isnt too bad right? I wonder if this could be a form of child abuse..

LOVE the look on her face here, PRICELESS.

Not my fault she wont sit still, right?

What have I been up to? Not blogging!

2010-10-21T11:06:00.001-07:00

I've been trying to do more crafts, to stave off the looming insanity, be creative at least once a day. Sometimes if I'm lucky, I'll do a half dozen different things a day, creativity at its finest! That and taking care of the house work and The Little Miss. Well. You know where I'm going with this right?
I cant be one of those funny blogger moms! Yet.. But I did have this blog post idea all day yesterday, in which I'd write about getting felt up by the kiddo while she nurses. I'm glad we're doing the mama and baby bonding, and all that good stuff. But really? She's got to play around with the other breast too? Is it boredom? She needs some nursing entertainment? My boobs are boring!? Anyway..

Alright. I fail. But look!

Schleppy - from Crafty Mama:
Makes 49 Fast, Fabulous, Foolproof (Baby & Toddler) Projects. Which your child is supposed to instantly love, yadda yadda; Sophie just throws it away from her and couldnt care less. I did stay away from the crazy colors it called for, and used up what I had. Sigh.

Happy - from The Cuter Book by Aranzi Aronzo. Sofar Sophie likes it.

Yeah, I'm knitting a dude toque.

Painting! *lovelovelove*

I altered this boring old denim tote into this!

i LOVE this!

2010-10-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

link here.

Sophie's Words

2010-10-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

Its a sad day.

2010-10-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

Today we put my cat, Turtle, down.

And as long as I don't think about it, or her, or anything else, I am ok. Whats done is done now, I cant keep arguing with myself whether or not I should have waited a couple more days, maybe she would have perked up more, maybe I would have made a difference. (See? I'm tearing up already.) And while it cant be helped, damn our lack of funds for aggressive recovery purposes. I didn't want her to suffer any more than she already was. (oh god, here it comes) Whats done is done. I love you Turtle, and goodbye.

(WAAAHHHH.. oh right, don't think.)

So, I'm not thinking. I even had a glass of wine already, and I may just have another. I may go soak in my hot tub. I may go sit outside and soak up some starlight. I may eat this black cherry frozen yogurt and continue perusing Design Sponge to distract myself with pretty things.

I hate losing a pet. I've never been good at it, and I still cry over lost pets if I think about them. They're not just pets, they're my family, my furry little children. My heart breaks for each one.

Just keep on keepin' on.

Don't think.

Feeling better, Sick cat, This and That.

2010-09-29T11:03:00.000-07:00

I've been taking vitamins as well as Echinacea drops, and Oil of Oregano drops (which is so gross), and I feel like I'm on the mend! Wahoo!

So of course, now my cat has to get sick.

I thought it was just a hairball thing a week or two ago when I noticed it. She was trying to bring one up, but couldnt, and would just bring up spit/foam. So I bought some hairball paste and gave it to her twice a day for a few days and I thought it helped since she stopped. But now she's lost a lot of weight, I can feel her spine and hip bones when I pet her now (she used to be a big fatty), and she's so weak and can barely walk. I dont think she's eating or going to the bathroom. So I'm taking her to the vet in a couple hours, getting my MIL to babysit Sophie while I do. Lets hope its nothing serious and nothing too expensive. She's not that old, she isnt supposed to get sick on me yet!

I'm not doing much project wise, I did finish knitting a dishcloth that has been laying around for the last year. I've started a mans hat in a nice gray color, and its a great pattern.

I spent yesterday cleaning house and doing yard work! So naturally my floors are already dirty.

Oh, the futility.

And because I like to dress Sophie up and take pictures:

Sickly.

2010-09-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

While I wasnt feeling too bad the other day, now its a full on cold. I needed kleenex today, STAT. Arent they funky boxes? Mark's worse than I am, he's got an ear ache to deal with as well. Sophie's seems to be doing better than we are, naturally.

I've replaced a picture I didnt like with these, that I mostly put together today. Its a piece of wall behind the couch, Sophie's fort area that she doesnt use much. Yet. I think itlooks much better.

Instead of markers (she's lost the purple one already, OI) today, we played with some play dough.

Also picked her up some clothes at superstore, that were mostly on sale, a pink pair of tights, and sage green colored play suit set, and a red apple pattern shirt with red shorts. Like this:

Fruit, Playdough, the 5

2010-09-24T10:09:00.001-07:00

image from weheartit.com

Ahh, autumn. If only mine were that pretty, but no! Turn it all gray, and add rain. Lots of rain. Sigh.

Putting fruit in pretty bowls on my dining room table, has made a big difference in the amount of fruit I've been eating lately. Especially in the last few days, where I've eaten more fruit than I have in months. Before it would all sit in a drawer in the fridge and get forgotten about, which only leaves me with a mess to clean up and guilt over wasting food.
Fruit is good!

I caved in, and bought Sophie some play dough. Hey, for under $10 for a pack of 10 small jars, is pretty good I think. And the colors! I couldnt have made play dough this cool. She's really been enjoying it too, the texture, squishing it in her hands, pulling pieces off. So I'm happy she's having fun, but I'm not happy with having to search around for dough and the jars it goes in after. Hmph.

So while I've probably mentioned that I was feeling blue for a while, I'm back to taking the 5HTP and of course its working. So I'm feeling better, but then I go and catch a cold! Not a bad one (yet) but enough to exhaust and annoy me, and Sophie's got a bit of a cold as well. Here's to hoping this may be looking up.

I've been dog sitting again for the week, and while she's a great little dog and no trouble at all... I am not a dog person. Walks and stuff? Jeez.

I havent got much done with my projects lately, even though I'm still looking forward to them.

Hope you're all well.

xo, fran.

Finally Friday!

2010-09-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

But really, it doesnt matter! As a stay at home mother, all my days tend to blend together anyways.

This morning we went to toddler time, and had fun there. We came home and I actually went out back and mowed AND weed wacked the yard. Now the grass starts growing again, after not doing much all summer. I think it got mowed once during the summer? HAH. Now the front yard.. maybe later.

I'm concerned about one of my cats, Turtle. Lately she's been more lethargic, and puking up spit/foam. She's been losing weight, is noticeably lighter, and I can feel her spine. I think a call to the vet is in order.

I've been arguing with myself lately over play dough. YES I KNOW. Crazy right? I'm down with the hip-mama, make your own stuff, yadda yadda. But some days I'm just lazy and want to go buy it instead. Especially when I'd have to go out to buy ingredients for the play dough anyways, why not just buy it? Besides I probably cant make up cool colors either.

My project for yesterday turned out to be a pair of lounge pants for Sophie, out of one of Mark's old tshirts. Not bad for a first try I think! I also got some more felt cut for the bird mobiles I want to make. Its going slowly right now.

My SIL gave me some hand-me-downs, and I'm totally loving this pair of jeans, they fit perfect, and they stretch! No more showing my bum! I LOVE them. Plus she gave me some old magazines, Elle, etc, but I think I'm going to dig these old Style At Home mags! Bye!

xo, fran.

Hi!

2010-09-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

My SIL and her friend were over here yesterday pickling beets. Naturally I didnt really do much, seeing as I had to chase Sophie around and tend to her. But it was definatly interesting to watch, and I hope I can remember how to do it myself in the future. I tasted a fresh beet and it was delicious! It being the first home grown crop (we have a shared garden) we only got maybe half a dozen jars canned. Something is always better than nothing. SIL is also giving me another bag of clothes, which is always fun. Yay for funky hand-me-downs.

I havent done much with the website/shop in the last few weeks. I cant help it, I am totally uninspired right now. I will probably re-post the scarves, hats and what not that I still have, and see if anyone is interested. I've got the knitting itch again, and I'm currently working on a pair of toddler gloves, in hot pink. I have a beautiful ball of yarn for a nice cozy toque, when I get around to knitting it. Quite possibly some dish clothes as well. I love my knitted dish cloths.

My home decor is shifting a bit, and I'm leaning more towards 'granny-chic'. LOL. I've doilied my couch inspired from here, (hey its covering cat scratches too).
I recently bought a quilt from a thrift store for a buck. It's SO worn, it was a crazy quilt pattern, and almost all the pieces of fabric are worn away, it was outside, dirty, had some melted candy of some kind on it. But I fell in love with it. I took it home and threw it in the wash. It's even better now that its clean, and I dont mind the worn out fabric so much, there's a corner or two that is still hanging in there.

I'm also reading some SARK again. I need to be inspired and motivated.

You know those plush disney chairs, that have some character on them? Have you ever come across a craft project or whatever, where someone has recovered the chair? or sewn something over the character? Even just a soli piece of patterned fabric would be fine, I'm just getting tired of Mickey Mouse watching me all the time.

Sleepy Mornings.

2010-09-08T09:29:00.001-07:00

I would love to be up in the early morning hours and get Sophie and myself ready for the day, running off to early toddler groups or the library, or any other bits of excitement. But you know what? I also love sleeping in (read as: getting as much sleep as I can since I'm up at various time through the night) and lounging around with cartoons, waking up nice and easy.

I was looking though etsy last night at crib sheets. CRIB SHEETS. I'm sorry but I dont want to pay more than $20, if that at all, for a crib sheet, I dont care how funky it is! So I may actually go buy some fabric in the near future and make one or two myself. Again, my quest for more colors and patterns!

Here are a couple recent pictures.

I painted her chair, this is the back of it.

The front.

Her decoupaged table.

She loves the rag rugs.

Hello Blog World!

2010-09-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

I'll hang my head in shame. I havent been a good little blogger, have I? I wont throw excuses at you, and without getting too into it, I'll just say that I've been battling some depression, and I'm trying to over come it!

Its been a great couple days for creativity, I spent most of it decoupaging and painting some of Sophie's furniture, some old dark brown stained wood stuff, and its so pretty now. I've been thinking that my (our) lives need more color, shapes and sizes, and I'm starting small with Sophie's stuff. HEHE!

My friends from Victoria came up for the day and it was SO nice to see them again! Even though we didnt do much, its still nice to just hang out and chat. And watch Sophie be silly. Plus they brought me stuff, and bought dinner. I cant argue with that, can I! Hah.

I was looking at some kiddy programs for the season, and I could keep Sophie and myself busy all week if I wanted to! Only 2 or 3 programs would have to be paid for but it would still come to over $100. What will win out? My being cheap, or keeping Sophie entertained? HM!

A friend brought over the first season of True Blood. It's entertaining.

I made coffee today... I hope I didnt break the new coffee maker. Uhh.

xo, Fran.

Wah.

2010-09-01T10:48:00.001-07:00

I got something in my eye this morning, and it took me a while before I could even open my eye to see at all. I can now, but my eye feels scratched or something, still somewhat irritated, and it sucks. Not a great way to start the day! This afternoon I have a doctors appointment, and I get the results of the ultrasound I had done on my cysts. Other than that, I think I'll go by the other consignment places around town and see if they'll take some clothes. I keep forgetting to zip/button up the clothes, what a silly reason not to take something.

I havent been feeling very positive these days, once again I'm stuck in a negative rut. Be it from dealing with Sophie when she's being more than a handful, lack of sleep, stress, or going stir crazy in the house. I'm not inspired to do or make much, and especially with no feedback on anything, I just assume everything I do sucks, and quit.

Anyhoo.

We had a play date yesterday and it went great! Nice fun people who could be great friends! I need to get Sophie out more, but at least the baby groups will be starting up again soon, so yay to that.

Mark and I had our 2nd wedding anniversary on monday. We havent really done much, nothing special. It's hard with no babysitter for Sophie. But wow, 2 years already!?

Been a while!

2010-08-26T09:47:00.001-07:00

And I think I have a pretty good reason for it.

Last week, I was in Alberta with Sophie and my folks, and we were visiting my granny. It was a great trip! I almost wanted it to be a bit longer, oh well.

We've been back since last saturday, and since then its been cleaning house. Every. Day. And making some lunches, and some dinners. Two mornings in a row now I've woken up exhausted, which pretty much kills any sort of plans for the early part of the day.

Right now I'm killing time before the play group at 10:30am, and getting some blogging in while Sophie watches cartoons.

Its hard to dress myself these days. I want to wear some of my funkier stuff, but also keeping an eye on the weather and being realistic about having to chase Sophie around all the time, and staying comfortable. Sometimes I'd rather just throw on some sweat pants and a grubby tshirt, but I cant leave the house like that! Its annoying anyway. Being a mom affects so much of life's little details.

Yesterday I got a chance to get to the hospital and get an ultrasound on my cysts. I was in for the new one on my leg that hurts me, and I got the tech to check the big one on my side too. Not sure if I'll hear back on the big one as it was not requested. So lets hope for good things, right? Is it sad that I almost want something to be wrong with me? Heh.

Sophie has been teething the last couple weeks. Eye teeth and molars, oh my! So she's been pretty good about it mostly, and other times she's a real... peach. She has a thing for coloring all over herself, and sucking on the markers. Yes, I was trying to wipe the blue out of her mouth earlier. Also, every day she picks up at least a new word or two, her vocab is growing rapidly. Then she'll stop what she's doing to inspect something, and I'll tell her what its called, and she takes a few minutes to say it, and poke and prod. Like at my nose. Or my eyes.

I need to get myself in gear I think, and work on some more projects, and check if my earrings are selling or not maybe.

Come on. Lets get with it.

Going away! Far Far Away!

2010-08-11T10:44:00.000-07:00

Yes that's right. Sophie and I are going with my folks to Alberta for a week or so, to see my Granny. Who happens to live on a little farm in the middle of nowhere, and the nearest town is an hour or more away. Talk about vacation! Must make sure I pack enough stuff/entertainment for the little monkey and myself.

I'm really looking forward to it. Getting out of this town for a while, and since we're driving as well, it'll be a really nice road trip too. I'll get to see my great great granny's house again, and hopefully have more time to dig around whatever is left there too. I love it. I think the history is so cool.

We're leaving friday, and it cant come fast enough! Must check my packing.

Crafty! - Pillowcase Dress

2010-08-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

I just made this for my daughter, after having the pillowcases laying around for a few months already. I love that I had matching green ribbon for it!
It'll be great for the hot days in Alberta next week!

Cheers!

Eco-Friendly Friday!

2010-08-06T09:37:00.000-07:00

Grow your own garden!

We are! Our sugar snap peas have already come and gone, and they were delicious! We have a few different varieties of tomato plants growing outside, with nice big green fruit on them already. The carrots arent doing a whole lot, I'm not sure what is going wrong there. We have parsley! We have a couple little zucchini (I think) plants. In the green house we have kale, which has gone to seed, and I've collected some already.

This is our third year of trying to garden, and this is the biggest batch of plants we've had yet. The only problem is getting outside every morning and/or night to water them!

Not All Here Right Now

2010-08-06T09:23:00.001-07:00

Yeah, say it, I've missed more features. That I recall promising to keep up on and give my blog some interesting things to read. WELL.

Sophie is teething, and probably growth spurting again, we're playing around with the idea of potty training but I dont think she's ready just yet. I also have a trip to Alberta coming up, and I now have a week to pack.

But really? I'd rather just sit on my computer all day and play Spore. I am TIRED. I look to my dining and living room, at the constant mess from my little running tornado, and just the sight of it wears me out. Great accomplishments of the day now include getting a load of dishes done, or washing those god awful ammonia diapers.

A friend once told me that being a stay at home mom is like being a single parent, and her with her wonderful lack of children, is TOTALLY RIGHT. It is. Especially when Mark works 10 hour days, and whatever else he does. I get worn out, okay?

But I do have some projects I've been toying with. Firstly, I am knitting a rag rug doormat thinger out of Mark's old work shirts. Second, I am now working on cutting out bits of felt for the birdie mobiles, only miniature ones instead of Sophie's big one. Then, I want to make a pillowcase dress for Sophie (I know I'm a little late on the timing right? Summer being almost over and all), and possibly a doilie table runner. That is it for now, a few things to work on.

Sophie is currently totally passed out on my bed.. I think I'll go play some Spore.

2010-08-03T14:17:00.000-07:00

OK. I forgot the Sunday feature, but you know what? It was one of those really, really lazy weekends. It was even a holiday weekend, with a parade and fireworks and whatnot, and we never did a damn thing all weekend. Which sort of bums me out because I like to go out and do stuff, get out of the house, and try to keep my sanity, but, yanno. Sometimes things dont happen.

Today I'm trying to be productive, and so far, so good. Maybe, I'll even get a workout in, if Sophie doesnt wake up.

Hello Monday.. we meet again!

2010-07-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

Hello bloggers!

So, in the back yard we have a pile of wood under a tarp left by the former owners of the house, and this past weekend my folks were up and I had asked my dad about bashing together some benches or whatever with the wood, use it up, etc. He went poking around the pile, and then we discovered this little beauty:

A Bumble Bee hive! It took me and Google a while to figure out what kind of bees we had, Mark and I hoped it would be honey bees and then we could get it taken away without destroying the hive. BUT its Bumble, so I dont know what we need to do about it. Try to move it?

Anyhoo.. I've been working on my shop and added some baby sweaters that my MIL makes. Hoping to get more things posted soon.

Note to self: dont fiddle with filezilla! I was mucking around with it the other day and photos stopped uploading properly, I have it fixed now and need to go back to the market site and fix a few things. WHEW.

While Mark and our buddy Zach were playing guitar at the craft market, one highlight of the day was Sophie stealing $5 out of the case!

Sunday!

2010-07-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

It's time for another round of Getting to Know YOU with MannLand5.com!

1. Thong or Granny Panties? I prefer boy shorts.

2. If you see a guy with his fly down, do you tell him? depends on the guy

3. Spanx or no Spanx? what is 'spanx' anyway?

4. Do you sleep in your sheets? doesn't everyone, why else do you put them on your bed?

5. What is your favorite Disney character? the grumpy old man from UP

6. Dream vacation spot? hawaii could be nice..

7. What is your dream job? I've got it, being a stay at home mom! now if only i could get paid..

8. Who is your hero and why? today its my friend Carley, who just spread her mom's ashes today in Denmark. she's been through alot of stuff, things i couldnt imagine. i wish i could be strong like she is.

Come join in at MannLand5.com!

Ec-Friendly Friday!

2010-07-23T13:47:00.001-07:00

Hello folks! Time for the friday blog post! (I missed wednsday, sorry!)

Recycled Fabric Jewelery!

This one I've been having a lot of fun with lately! I've accumulated a bunch of scrap fabric, some that was left in the house from previous owners, some that I've been hauling around from different projects, and some from the scrap fabric bin at Walmart.

I've been making flower brooches, which are pretty quick to make, and come out beautifully! I love the worn and scrappy look of them, the uniqueness of each piece, and my expanding color varieties. The vintage buttons are so pretty! I'm so looking forward to making some tie dye pieces!

I've started selling them locally now, and they will be in my shop as well! Arent they cute?!

I'm also branching out a bit more and making some hair accessories as well, so keep an eye out for those too!

Have a wonderful day!

xo, Fran.

Oh Sunday.

2010-07-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

That means it's time for another round of Getting to Know YOU with MannLand5.com!

1. If you had to choose a country to live in besides USA (or the country you live in), which would it be? I've never actually thought about this before.. not sure.

2. Which would be worse, wearing flip flops in the snow or wearing gloves in the summer? flip flops in the snow.

3. Fried or Bake and why? bake, because its healthier.

4. If you were an entertainment reporter, which celeb would you love to interview and why? Gerard Butler. mmmm.

5. What was your favorite book as a preteen/teenager? probably when i discovered poppy z brite's Lost Souls.

6. List your top 3 guilty pleasure television shows. So You Think You Can Dance, America's got talent & billy the exterminator.

7. What bumper sticker slogan best describes you/your attitude/your life? Sanity is back-ordered. Sarcasm is in unlimited supply.

8. If you were to join a circus - what performer would you be? err.. i'll get back to you on that one.

My inner teenager rears her emo head.

2010-07-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

Like the title of this blog post says, my inner teenager popped out yesterday, and I suddenly felt a need for new clothes that look good and fit my body, and the need to be zit free.

I took Sophie for a walk to the mall since I needed to go pick up a book anyways, and headed into Bootlegger, and LO! they were having a 50% off sale. I picked up 2 tank tops, 2 tshirts on sale, and a pair of $40 shorts. Firstly, the shorts are a size 30, and they're big, heaven forbid I be a size 29, or 28 even! I see another pair in the future. I have been in need of longer tshirts, after having Sophie. Bigger boobs, and post-baby belly, DEMANDED that I get new shirts! $85 later, (darn you HST!) and I look good. Ish.

I try to be more mindful of the chemicals and crap in some products that go on my skin and in my body, and I've been trying to use better alternatives for skin care. But they suck. Especially with my oily skin. I'm almost 30 (I quickly wipe away a tear here) and I feel like I'm back in my teens. The acne hasnt been horrible, but its enough to annoy me. So I caved and bought some Neutrogena Deep Clean.

When I used this product before, years ago, I had very happy results. Good Guide gives it a 5.6 rating, so it's only halfway bad for you. I've been using it for a few days now, so we'll see what happens.

Eco-Friendly Friday!

2010-07-16T15:31:00.000-07:00

A new feature I'm going to try and stick with, giving you some eco tips, or neat ideas I find online, and such. I try to be as green and eco-friendly as I can, (and afford!); I love looking at all the 'green' books in bookstores that all tell me the same thing over and over. Shop with reusable bags! Ditch disposables! Turn off your lights! I like finding a *new* idea, something I havent read or heard of before. I've used the Facebook application "I Am Green" and its a great way to discover new things, and keep track of all you do. Personally, I do a lot. I'll have to list it all here one day, just so you can be in awe of my awesomeness. HAH!

So here's my first tip: reusable produce bags.

I HATE plastic bags, and I especially HATE all those little produce bags that accumulate in your cupboards. I've seen recently that in different grocery stores they are using biodegradable bags now, recyclable, etc. That is good to see. Myself, I bought reusable mesh produce bags from Thrifys, and loved them.. until I lost most of them. I can only find 2.
OH WOE.
I'll have to buy some more.

Blog Ideas!

2010-07-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

I recently stumbled across a post about blogging tips for bloggers, and it really got me to thinking about mine, and what I want to do with it, and where I want it to go. I would love to be one of those blogs that people like to read, have some interesting content, do giveaways, polls, whatever else. I already have 4 followers (i love you!) so I've been thinking of what else to do.

One tip was to leave out any negativity, and from now on I'm going to try real hard to do just that! Sympathy only lasts so long, and makes people leave. Another was to do weekly features, and I've been trying to think of idea for it, I've been trying to do the "Getting To Know You" feature on sundays, and I was also thinking of doing a "Things I Love" on wednsdays, and maybe an "Eco-Friendly Friday" feature. I think these I could pull off, and that is three features a week, which I think is pretty good.

Also, I need to post more, and leave other bloggers comments! Which I never do.. I am the Queen of Lurkdom. Time to get out there and make some friends.

In other news, I will be selling some earrings and brooches through the local baby consignment store! I made a pretty display stand, and I'm making some more earrings as well. I need to get down to my sewing maching and make some more brooches as well! I just need a name, and I am still trying to work that one out. If I can use my 'xoxaine' name somehow, then I can still use my .com site later on if I need to! I was thinking that I could make a 'xoxaine' stamp, and then I'd be able to stamp the back of each paper backing and sort of be more professional.

Ideas?

WOW.

2010-07-13T22:01:00.000-07:00

The dog hair that has accumulated after dog sitting for a couple days!! SHEESH. I finally got around to some good cleaning today, but I flaked out on washing the floors.

I took Sophie to the water park today, and she wasnt so interested in it like I thought she might be. Sure she liked it when I picked her up and tossed her through some water, but otherwise, not so much.

I stopped by Podlings today and they're interested in selling my earrings and brooches, so today I whipped up a nicer looking display that will hopefully do its job. And if I use the name "xoxaine" I can still use my .com site later if needed.

I've had a throbbing headache all evening, but I'm dealing with it.

I'm looking forward to friends coming up this weekend, and some more wonderful meals and learning how to cook them. Mark couldnt find the Ps2 Singstar 90s game that I want, so I'll have to take a look around. I love our drunken karaoke!

Here's my little ham:

So tired today.

2010-06-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

I dont know what it is, pollen that came down in the wind or something, but i'm SO so so tired today. My FACE is tired. My eyes are heavy, I have no energy at all, and I am barely keeping myself from crawling into bed and napping. I hate days like this, it is so hard to get anything done. All I've been doing so far is lurking around online, and reading the first Harry Potter book. I did manage to drag Sophie and I out to meet Mark for lunch today, and I swear I could totally live off of Thai food. Yum.

Unfortunately I just missed out on a chance to get the ultrasound on my leg done today, since I have Sophie with me. I have cysts that ache and bother me, and need it checked out. I guess I could have quickly called around for a babysitter, but oh well. Another day.

I made my first potato salad the other day, only because I had to use up some cooked potatoes, hah.

Ahh, back to Harry Potter I think.

xo.

remembering.

2010-06-30T13:41:00.001-07:00

Sunday!

2010-06-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday...that means it's time for another round of Getting to Know YOU with MannLand5.com!

1.If you had $5000.00 to spend on plastic surgery what would you have done? I'd get a cute little nose, and maybe some fat off my midsection, ass, and thighs. lol.

2. Do you watch Soap operas and if so what is your favorite and why? I used to watch Another World years ago. I dont remember why.

3. Favorite clothing brand? nah.

4. An afternoon shopping spree at your favorite store or maid service for a year? ohhh.. tough call..

5. would you ever vajazzle? WHAT?

6. Favorite Disney Princess? Belle I think.

7. Last movie that made you bawl your eyes out? Eek! Um.. Time Travelers Wife

8. Have you ever broken any bones and if so what? my right wrist: tripped and fell while roller skating, and landed wrong. My left thumb: slammed it in a truck door.

Okay, now it's your turn... play along at MannLand5.com!

oi.

2010-06-22T13:34:00.000-07:00

i know i havent been blogging as much as i'd like to. i'd love to be one of those people with new and interesting stuff to blog about, and have giveaways and other such fun stuff. but i'm honestly not up to it, yet. i'm tired. varying degrees of depressed, and i am my own worst critic, i never think anything i may have is good enough. i'm busy taking care of sophie, and trying to take care of myself, but life always has its down moments, and they seem to be plenty. i can almost forget what its like to be happy and have fun. i usually have something in the works, or on my mind at least, and i even have a craft table for the summer market. i've been making some adjustments to things, and working on my display, so wish me luck. if anyone does read my blog, comments of well wishes and such would be wonderful.

xo.

here i am!

2010-06-14T10:04:00.000-07:00

OK, so I know I havent been blogging much, but I can honestly say that life has been busier than normal, and it is totally getting in the way.

This past saturday was Mark's turn to be in charge of the craft market, so I figured I'd set up my stuff and see what happens. The day went fine, I got a lot of compliments and looks, but only sold one brooch and a baby sweater, so only $15 profit for myself. My arms and parts of my neck are sun burnt. Sophie ended up with hyperthermia that evening, which made for a very long night. She's been off and on since, but I think there's also some teething with the amount of drool she's putting out. She seems to be getting better now.

Last week we went down to Nanaimo for the day, and we went to Jysk and picked up a new dining room table, and a big rag rug, which I absolutely love, and put it under the new table. I keep seeing Sophie laying under the table, so I think we need to get another rug!

Last night Sophie was playing atop the stairs and threw herself off balance, and went down head first. Mark was able to leap up from where he was standing by the front door, and caught her. She didnt get hurt, besides scaring herself and us. Thank goodness. I think the whole ordeal gave me another few gray hairs. Sigh.

Not much else has been going on besides the never ending house cleaning. This afternoon was a productive one, as I got in a workout, mowed the back yard, weedwacked a bit, and did some weeding. I made an awesome smoothie and dinner tonight, and am most proud of myself. Because I rarely cook dinner. LOL.

Smoothie:
3 peeled kiwis
1 c roughly blueberry yogurt
1 tbsp honey
1 c roughly almond milk
fill to top of blender with spinach.

YUM!

Dinner:
sliced green pepper, carrot, green onion, celery, zucchini fried with braggs sauce and tahini, mix in cooked rice.

YUM YUM!

Update.

2010-06-06T17:47:00.000-07:00

Dont you love my new doily layout? I do!

Let's see. I cant honestly recall anything blog worthy for the past week. Life was there, days went by, etc etc.
I've been on roller blades a few times now, trying to get used to them, and get back in shape, since Mark is learning to roller skate again. We switch off walking with Sophie, so we both get some exercise in.

Our garden is coming up nicely, only one tomato plant has been chewed on, and I had to cut back some rose bushes or whatever they are so another plant could get more sun. Did yard work, which is always good. There's a garter snake that live in our backyard, and while I'm not scare of it, it startles me every time I come across it when it starts slithering away.

I rearranged some furniture in the house, trying to make it nicer upstairs, and getting rid of small headaches. I had Mark move our dinning room table downstairs (his game table anyways, old and stained, etc) and all his gamer junk as well. I kicked the saturday night gamers downstairs, they can have their own room and washroom and such, and it worked out perfect for everyone. Now we need a new table to eat at! Hopefully I can find something nice.
Also moved my computer desk so Sophie can crawl across it and wreck anything. Yay.

Housework, washed the floor and whatnot. I kept seeing a smear of god knows what across the floor and it was really starting to get to me. HAH.

I've been busy working on our craft market web page lately, which is going well. See it here: Http://cvmarketsquare.ca

I've almost got my craft table ready to go, something to work on this week. Hopefully I can make some cash one of these days.

I've been trying to do more research on my family tree, with some success, but I can only do so much online. Especially when I need info from Ontario and other far away places.

Sophie's doing more new things, which both terrifies me and makes me proud. I had a friend the other day tell me she's not a baby anymore, she's like a little kid already. I could just cry. LoL. Sigh.

Sophie says: "Daaaaaaad, gimme your keeeeeeys!"

Sunday Sunday Sunday.

2010-06-06T17:41:00.000-07:00

(Whoa I havent blogged in a week!)

Its Sunday, which means another round of 'getting to know you! by mannland5.com! Grab the picture, and join on in. Its fun. Really.

1. If a person has a booger in their nose. and you can see it, do you tell them? If its someone i know, sure..

2. What are you passionate about? Hard to tell these days..

3. How long have you been blogging?Too long, and its never very interesting. :P

4. What is your favorite "summer" drink? iced tea.

5. What is your favorite type of music? Almost all, and it depends on the mood.

6. Something I do before I go to bed is......? Take my happy pill.

7. My Summer vacation plans are...? I dont have any yet. :P

8. My favorite must have, can't live without, beauty product is? chap stick /lip gloss!!

Another round of..

2010-05-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday!

1. Have you ever snooped around someone else's house?

Oh sure.. lol!

2. Can guys and girls be friends?

In a perfect world.. :P

3. Can you curl your tongue?

Yes!

4. Have you ever stolen anything?

Nope!

5. Would you rather talk on the phone or text?

Text/type. I'm awkward on phones. :P

6. Memorial Day plans?

No.

7. What do you do to relax?

Veg out on my computer, or lounge in the hottub!

8. Do you do anything to honor those that have died fighting for our freedom?
I live.

Getting my craft on!

2010-05-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this the other day, a granny-chic, Anthro-inspired onesie from threesixfive. I thought it was super cute, and for some reason today I got back to thinking about it, and couldnt get it out of my head!

I managed to find a plain white onesie, a doilie, some scrap fabric, and some nice shiny pink scrap. and you know what I did?

I made my own.

Ta-DAAAA!

Now I want to alter a few other things that arent so pretty. Hurrah.

Today I found this blog, and it is so inspiring! I love her project ideas and tutorials!
I found a few other things to start following, I love finding cool crafty blogs.

xoxo,

2010-05-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

Cute, right?
So many awesome facial expressions this kid has, its so great! My camera loves her.

Its been a quiet, rainy couple of days. I havent done much other than clean up the house here and there, today I met Mark for lunch and ran a couple of errands. Sophie's been napping (and what a nap! wow) and I got some guitar practice in. Found and stuffed some more music into my music book, more stuff to practice. I think I'm getting the F and B chords down.

xoxo,
Fran.

Oh blogger! I've been busy, I swear!

2010-05-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

This weekend was busy to say the least! We ended up with a house full of people starting friday night. J and Z came up to look at houses and schools and such before they move here in the summer, it was great to visit and hang out with them! Z had lots of fun with Sophie and the cats, and J brought a super yummy watermelon.. lol.

My folks arrived saturday morning, my mom having only been back on the island for maybe a day after coming back home from visiting her family out in ontario. She came back with some goodies for me, money from my grandmother, and quilt set (beautiful!), old family photos, and a whack of papers on family trees/history, all of which I adore! I dont know how much time I spent reading through the papers, and highlighting varies great grandparents and such, tracing them back from my grandfather to six generations back, around 1710! TOTALLY AWESOME. Since it seems to stop at my grandfather, a future project might be working on a new tree starting with him.

The quilt is great, though I was hoping for something handmade by a family member, they were all big heavy double quilts that my mom couldnt pack, lol.
The photos are great, I love putting names to faces.

We went shopping and picked up some stuff for around the house. Sophie finally has shelves in her room! So I've been in there reorganizing things AGAIN.

Saw a friend of mine and some of her roller derby group practicing, and I have to say I'm intrigued. I like the physical exercise aspect of it, and the skating and the style, the the idea of pain scares me! Haha!

This morning was the Empire Days parade in Cumberland, which I walked in with some other belly dancers. It was fun. :D

We watched the last episode of Lost today, and we sat around and cried! While it didnt answer all questions, it was a great last episode.

I have some photos of Sophie eating watermelon that I'll get around to posting later. They're so cute!

Have a great night!

xoxo, F.

It's Sunday!

2010-05-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

That means it's time for another round of Getting to Know YOU with MannLand5.com!

1. Do you have a fetish?
ehh, not that i know of!

2. Do you sing in the shower?
sometimes.

3. Who was your first crush?
real life: some more kid who apparently ate erasers and drank glue. famous: johnathan brandis.

4. What do you think is the best manly trait a guy could have?
hmm, i dunno, i'd have to think on it.

5. Do you sleep naked?
never have. undies at the very least, but i love my pjs too much!

6. What do you do when (you think) no one is looking?
pick a wedgie?

7. What's the first thing you do when you go online?
check facebook. hah.

8. Summer is.....?
gardening, suntanning, swimming, ice cream, shorts, flip flops, late nights that are still light.... being too hot, sunburns, everything is too bright. ;)

have a gooder.

xoxo, f.

Wednsday.

2010-05-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

I want to craft! Finally I've got the itch to do so, and I managed to do a small bit today while Sophie napped. I made a few more matchbook notepads, and a couple pairs of earrings. I'm still setting up my craft table, and I think I'll be taking a picture of what I have so far to get some comments and critic on it. I think my main items will be earrings and accessories, but I think I'm going to throw a few random things in there to spice it up. We'll see. I'm sort of looking forward to the craft fair, but I'm also dreading it, as it is my first one, I've never participated in a craft fair before, and I'm doubting myself as per usual.

This morning I had a Vampire Diaries marathon. I love our PVR, and I record VD every thursday. It was a nice mellow way to spend the morning with Sophie playing with her toys, and Mark home sick in bed.

Our veggie garden is coming along nicely! The peas are just coming up out of the dirt now, and the tomato plants are still looking good. Today I planted a couple zucchini, long cucumber, and radishes. Who knew radishes need to be planted every 10 days? HUH.

I love my SIL, she knows about awesome stuff like gardening and canning, which we'll be doing lots of!

Finally got new pictures off my camera.

xoxo, f.

Busy busy

2010-05-17T18:27:00.000-07:00

This past Friday, Mark got a tattoo. Done by a guy I used to know who was guest spotting at a local tat shop, Masonic symbols, and it looks awesome, but even better was when he bought me a tripod for my camera right after. HAH!

Saturday was spent in Vancouver for Mark's aunt's 85 birthday. It was a long day, aside from being awkward around people I've only met a couple times before, tired from dealing with Sophie, and it was a hot day to boot! I took some pictures of everyone, trying to get more practice in with my camera, and after reading the manual for a while, I figured out how to do black and white photos, as well as sepia, and different color stuff. I got some awesome pictures of Sophie while she was asleep in her car seat.

Sunday was yard work day! My SIL Tracey came over, and we got almost a dozen tomato plants planted, carrots, planted the parsley, and found a potato plant growing in our compost bin which we should find a place for. Then I mowed the lawns, while I had Mark available to watch Sophie. He had to scoot off to Lodge, so us girls went over to Sevvy's for dinner, and hanging out. We plunked the babies in the bath together, and it was super cute! They're total BFF's. Hehehe.

Today was apparently house cleaning day, as I did it all afternoon!! The house looks and smells awesome, but now my back is starting to bother me. I wonder if Sophie will let me use the Wii board for some yoga to stretch it out. Hm!

Since our peas are starting to come up, and I dont want Sophie playing in the garden anymore, I set up an old drawer full of dirt, rocks, pine cones that she can play with, and she loved it so much she crawled right in there. When I pulled her out to go back inside the house, she threw a fit for about a half hour. Wowie.

ok, so its been a few days..

2010-05-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

My arms itched for 4 days after all that yard work, I dont know if its from the sun, or some plant I got into in the yard, but I finally found sweet relief when I put some Benadryl itch spray on my arms.

I'm feeling better! Being sick for a month straight was a long haul, and I'm starting to feel better, and just in time too, apparently, because now Sophie has a cold. AND she's teething. Sigh.

I'm on a new kick to take better care of myself, and my first step was to buy some good healthy groceries. I have this book:

and based most of my grocery list off of one of theirs, and being the smart shopper I try to be, half of my items were on special. Woo. There are meal plans, daily and weekly menus, recipes, and other goodies.

Hopefully, things will progress well.

Yardwork Saturday!

2010-05-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

So my dear hubby and I did yard work most of the day. Sophie helped by eating some dirt, and playing with rocks and moss. We got soooo much done today, what a great feeling of accomplishment! Mostly lots and lots of weeding. I raked more soil into a couple spots getting ready for an actual garden, and I mowed the backyard with the push mower and weed-wacked a bit. My hands are tired, lol.

We went for lunch and had some super yummy burgers, and then went out for bubble tea afterwards.

We came back home and... more weeding! I pulled my bike out of the shed, as I'd like to get it tuned up and air in the tires, so I can escape for a bike ride now and then. If I didnt have to take the whole bike apart, I'd like to clean it up and spray paint it pink or yellow, or something fun. But what can I say, I'm lazy.

Also dug out an old cupboard that I'd like to clean up and alter, and start on Sophie's play kitchen! I've seen pictures of some amazing play kitchens out there, its so inspiring. This is probably what I'll shoot for, for now.

What am I reading?

2010-05-06T22:38:00.000-07:00

What are you reading?

Productive Monday

2010-05-03T17:22:00.001-07:00

While I'm waiting for my home dye job to set in, I thought I'd blog at you a bit.

Today has been most productive, in getting errands done, and whatever else around the house. I dropped off a bunch of glass jars to the glass bin, dropped off a bag of junk at sally anne (and forgot the other half at home, doh!), bought a cubby shelving unit and a couple storage baskets, and some latch/hooks for the pantry. I got the shelf assembled and in use, and ended up rearranging furniture in Sophie's room again. I got the latch on the pantry door, so Sophie cant get in there anymore, no more chasing soup packets and seasoning jars.

Then I eventually got around to scraping some caulking out from around our bathtub. I hate our shower/bathtub. HATE. Its tiled, and there wasnt enough grout put on and it wasnt sealed very well (unless its really old now, who knows). We've tried about half a dozen times now to just put a bead of caulking around the edge, to keep it cleaner, nicer, and all those good things. Because bathtub mold sucks. But it just wont set! Nothing Mark has tried has worked yet. I'd rather just bleach the whole thing and dry it out, and put in a new shower insert, damnit.

I hear a baby waking up...

It's Sunday(Oh, and it's May)!

2010-05-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

That means it's time for another round of Getting to Know YOU with MannLand5.com!

1. Are you superstitious? not really. i do believe in karma though. and that, shit happens.

2. If you were an animal..what kind would you be? i would totally be a cat. then i'd sleep all day, rub up on people, and do whatever i want.

3. You would never catch me wearing.........? uhh.. high heels?

4. If someone posts a VLOG..do you watch it? sure, why not.

5. Have you ever waxed your girlie/manly parts..or any other part of your body? have never waxed.

6. Are you a spender or a saver? A little of both, if I have a reason to save I save, but if not I will spend, but not all of it!

7. If you were starring in a movie..who would you want to play your leading man/woman? gerard butler!

8. Smoker..never smoked..social smoker..or smoked back in the day? NEVER!!!

Now it's your turn to play along!
You know you want to!

its friday.

2010-04-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

It ended up being a pretty nice day. Didnt get to the fair yet, but we did manage a baby group this morning, and listened to a speaker talk about recycling. Learned some new stuff, and it got us to rethinking some of our habits.

We had lunch out and Sophie behaved for the first time in a while, which was nice. We walked around downtown a little bit, and I checked out a couple stores I hadnt been in before. LOVE them. Nice quirky stuff, some locally made, some eco alternative items. They're now on my list of favorite stores. I was thinking about possibly seeing if they would be interested in selling some of my stuff, earrings maybe. I was totally stoked to see some sweater cowls made by Mountain Girl Clothing, and I got inspired.

After we got home, and I put Sophie down for her nap, I ran downstairs and did some sewing and whatnot. I made my own sweater cowl from a sweater I had already started cutting up a few months ago. I had already cut the sleeves off for leg warmers. Also I made a pair of wrist warmers as well. 1 item of clothing turned into 3. Yeehaw.

Then I worked on one of Mark's old tshirts, convertible cape/halter/tube top. The back said "Rock Solid" and I put that on the front, and covered the front logo with a piece of tyedye fabric.

I like em!

I need to set up a proper photo shoot area. Sigh.

Wonderful Wednsday

2010-04-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

I play Dream Of Mirror Online, also called DOMO. I enjoy using my kill combo on squirrels and watching sparkles fly out their ass when they die.

I got out to one of the baby groups finally today, after weeks of not going due to being sick. It was nice to get out and socialize a bit.

Got a package in the mail today from my buddy Carley, a big stack of pictures of Sophie that she took when she was here last, and the manual for the camera she gave me. Joy!

I ate an orange today. I cant remember the last time I had a whole piece of fruit besides bananas.One of my cats apparently likes to eat these. And so do I!

I gave Sophie my big cute purse, again, since she's been diving in there taking out my stuff, again. I also gave her my old wallet, and put some coffee cards and old reciepts in there for her. She loves it!

Sketch Quickie.

2010-04-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

Taste and Smell, Yoyos, HeartIt

2010-04-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

Especially your sense of taste and smell.

Where I've been sick for almost a month straight, (and I have to say that I am fed up with having plugged up ears all the time. BLAH!) I'm starting now to get back those two wonderful senses. I've lived with a mishmash of food textures, and was actually getting bummed out about eating. "Who cares, make whatever you want, I cant taste it anyways. Gr. Harumph."

I recently was at the mall, and sort of smelled cinnamon buns. Today at lunch, I could taste relish on my hamburger! RELISH! And then I could taste coffee.. to which I added more sugar.
Oh joy!
Oh bliss!

I'm so looking forward to tasting chinese food again.

Anyway.

A new thing I'll be getting around to making is some fabric yoyos. Cute and easy, headbands, brooches, assorted pretties. Use up my scrap fabrics.

And this just because.

I've discovered http://weheartit.com and I love it!

sleepy sundays

2010-04-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

I dont know what it is about sundays that sucks out all your energy and make you want to sleep all day.

My folks were up for the weekend which as usual, was totally awesome. I got a new keyboard from the thrift store, yay for buttons that actually work, and also picked up a few things here and there as well. We checked out the earth day fair on saturday for something to do, and checked out a few places around town. It was nice, and Sophie had lots of fun.

Watched 'Precious'.. whoa. I'm still waiting to watch 'The Lovely Bones' but the rental place is out of them still.
Probably the best thing I bought today was a nerf gun. Which I am now going to use, and shoot my hubby off his computer.

G'nite!

html, and crafts.

2010-04-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

After much fiddling around with my template html I finally fixed a little blurb that was bothering me. There was a partially hidden link for older posts by my picture, and it was bothering me. Done and gone!

I talked to my buddy Danny most of the day while he was at work, and I think that was the most we've talked in a long time! He's now the oldest internet friend I have, and the only friend I have in the states.

I also escaped the house for an hour and checked out a couple thrift stores. I picked up a few foam wreaths to try some projects with, and a couple pretty skirts.
My parents will be here in a couple hours, and I cant wait! I miss my mama. Then we're watching Avatar tonight, I doubt anyone else is going to show up to watch it.

Tomorrow is the town Earth Day festival, so that should be fun to check out with the family and Sophie. Yay.

I made something pretty for my camera strap, as blogged at http://wildolive.blogspot.com/2010/04/fancy-up-your-camera-strap.html

Not my image, but pretty darn close. Its cute.

2010-04-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

I'd love to win this for sophie! The colors are awesome, and I love that its all recycled plastic!

check it out here at http://canadian-natural-mama.blogspot.com/2010/04/wild-dill-review-and-discount-with.html#comment-form

happy earth day

2010-04-22T10:26:00.001-07:00

Happy Earth Day!

We may actually get out of the house today and enjoy some sun. My hubby gets home earlier today, so hopefully we can hit some local businesses and check out the earth day sales. Woo!
I already do a lot of 'green' things, and I'm always researching more things I can do without too much trouble. I'd love to do more, but things like reality, time, and money come into consideration. My SIL has been by the last few days helping us get our garden ready to use this year, and its great since she knows what she's doing, whereas hubby and I just wing it. Haha.

Here's a small green list of stuff we do/use:

- reusable bags for shopping/groceries
- reusable produce bags
- cloth diapers
- homemade cloth wipes
- 'no tp for pp'
- recycle
- compost
- reuse the plastic bags we do get
- shop at thrift stores, craigslist, etc.
- shop consignment
- cloths line

There's a whole lot more, and an application that I really like on Facebook is the 'I am Green' appy, where you can list all the things you do, add, compare, etc. Its cute and fun.

I'm still sick, though not nearly as stuffed up today as I have been, perhaps the oil of oregano I've been taking is starting to work! But then I was coughing all night. I moved to the couch at about 3am and slept against a 4 pillow stack. Blehhh. I'll be so happy when this damn superbug is gone. People all over town have been down with it, even the super health nuts, and 2 weeks seems to be the marker for it. Hopefully this weekend it'll finally leave.

Yesterday I was feeling alright, I even did a low impact workout on the Wii Active. When I'm healthy again (hahaaaa) I'd like to start taking better care of myself.

I feel like poo.

2010-04-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

Image from weheartit.com.

I love this. Why cant I decorate like that. Sigh.

Still sick, its in my chest now, and I cant breathe out my nose. The assorted pills and syrups I've been taking dont seem to be doing much for me, so I've started taking some oil of oregano, and let me tell you that shit is NASTY!! I'm taking it with some honey.. "a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down.." At least I was able to sleep, in my bed, last night which was a nice change.

I've done dishes, organized the pantry, made some more headbands with the braided fabric, and some with jumbo ric rac. And sat here at the computer looking at random stuff. I considered running a hot bath, but it might wake up Sophie, and she's thankfully sleeping right now. She seems to be doing great today, some runny nose, but she was running around the house earlier, hyper even. Lucky brat.

I've got some boring white curtain panels that I made a while back, and I'm thinking of embellishing them with ribbon stripes, but I'm not sure if I have any good ribbon to use for that sort of thing. Plus the bottoms got burned against a baseboard heater, so I've also hemmed them up more.

sick AGAIN.

2010-04-18T23:49:00.000-07:00

I've been sick every month so far this year. Bad way to start it off right? Yup! Round 2 of whatever nasty cold is going around, and at least its not in my chest (yet), but my head is super stuffed up, I've been blowing my nose all day, bit of a sore throat, and my ears keep plugging and popping. Sophie at least seems to be doing alright, I noticed she wasnt coughing quite so much today, and didnt seem to be as snotty. C'mon cold meds! Do your thang!

We tried to go out for lunch at Boston Pizza, and got part way through it before Sophie started having another one of her fits. For the second time in the last few days, we've had to pack up our food and leave. I think we should eat at home for a while. Hah. When she's good, she's great, when she's bad, she's horrible! Being sick sucks sure, add that to possible teething and growth spurt, but she's already testing boundaries and limits. The 'terrible two's' are wrong. It's the 'terrible 1+'. :p

Nothing planned for this week, unless I start feeling better soon. Good times, right?

thrifting, crafts, and photos.

2010-04-16T19:19:00.000-07:00

After finally getting over the blahsies today, I worked on some more brooches, hopped over to the thrift store with more junk and bought more junk (hehee). And then took some photos.

Sophie models my headband.

Turtle, guardian of the tupperware.

This sweet little plastic lunchbox holds my paint!

Found a cork board to hold the earrings.

Found this beautiful suitcase which now stores some of my yarn stash.

This is my craft table atm.

Found assorted cute at the dollar store!

Oh, and some popsicle molds.

2010-04-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day for getting some crafty stuff done while Sophie was sleeping. There were some projects I found blogged around elsewhere and thought it would be fun to try them myself. I love quick and easy projects!

First was the braided fabric headband, the tutorial I used can be found here.

Apparently I was in the mood for pinks and browns, and then I safety pinned a fabric flower to it and I think it looks great!

Next was some more fabric flower brooches, and I love them. I made 4 pink ones, and I have some greens, blues and tan brooches in progress.

I've also made 2 more red fuzzy pillows, since I cant think of what else to do with that fabric. Besides crafty stuff I had to run out and grab Sophie some things, after having lunch with Mark. I took care of my SIL's dog for the day, and such an awesome little dog she is! The sweetest little shitzu ever, rarely barks, good tempered and natured all round, and friendly with other pets and babies.

I've had fluid in my right ear for a couple days now, and its rather annoying. I guess its left over/new cold symptom. Wonderful. Sophie is sick with a nasty cough and congestion. Seems like alot of viruses going around again and lots of people getting sick. I was thinking about it the other day and I've been sick every month this year so far. What a crappy way to start the year!

april 13

2010-04-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

The house is getting to me. Clutter and junk strewn about the house, how does all this crap reappear?! ARG! I read so many blurbs on cleaning and organizing and look at pretty pictures of other people's houses and decorating ideas, and I feel like such a gomer in comparison. I'm a stay at home mom with 1 kiddo. Why cant I keep my house is perfect condition? Why cant I craft/sew/be artsy *every* day? Because my ass is lazy and I have no motivation or inspiration to do so! I usually end up spending way too much time online looking at other people's stuff than dealing with my own. BLARG!

Anyway. I pulled the pompoms off this headband I'm wearing today, and I'm rocking the earrings again. I too can be cool and hippy dippy.

There are a few projects I'm hoping to start one of these days, here are some pretty examples to look at.

April 12

2010-04-12T16:29:00.000-07:00

SWEET! I love how blogger tells you who's following you. 2 people already! yay!
I changed my picture, showing off my earrings. Look! They're awesome. Oohh. Ahhh.
I fixed up the craft market web page a bit. Apparently the link for the application form was too hard to find. Not any more! Also ran some errands today, had some Thai food for lunch. Another nice and mellow day. Spent the evening with Sevvy and Kara, which is way better than sitting on my computer all night. Had some delicious roast beef, potatoes and broccoli for dinner. Yummy. I get to hold on to her serger for a while! Possible goodies to come from that.

Is it just me, or does the text size change in my first post? I have no idea why..

Brand New Blog!

2010-04-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

After fiddling around with my dot com, and trying to make and style things the way I wanted and failing at it, I decided to just jump on the band wagon and go with blog spot. At least this way I'm on search listings and such, and maybe I'll get people interested in following me. I can dream, right?

An awesome weekend was had.

I thought it was going to be spent crying and worn out from Sophie and her new temper tantrums but instead, yesterday we drove down to Nanaimo for the day to meet up with my folks. We had lunch, did some walking and shopping, and it was so awesome to see them.

Earrings! I've been making these for a while now, I already have 17 pairs made and ready for the craft fair. Holy crap! I want to do a giveaway.. lol.

Today was a wonderful day.

We had to take back a movie and that was the start of today's adventure. After that errand was done, we grabbed lunch at Quizno's and ate at the bird sanctuary on comox rd. It was beautiful, god how I love these sunny days! Sophie had her first drink from a straw, yay juice!

Next we went to Royston to look at the boat wrecks there, and so I could take some pictures for Mark with my awesome new camera. A stop in to Walmart to grab some baby goodies and a ball for the back yard. Staples for a camera bag (which I so needed!) and Winners to look at more storage ideas.

Came home briefly only to have my friend Sev come over with her daughter, and we walked to the park, and let the babies swing for a while. Then back home so I could drop off Sophie and Cuba (was dog sitting!) and we walked to the mall to check out a few things including the new grocery store, which I already love.
Lots of sun and good times.

xo, fran.