Late Halloween

I've been terribly neglectful of my blog this fall, but now that the cooler weather is upon us my love for craftiness is reigniting... I think all of the really fun stuff to make is needed in the winter. :)

So as a "Hi blog, I'm back" post, here is one of my recent projects, it took me a week of evenings to complete, but I think they turned out adorable. I bought a simplicity Halloween pattern for a lamb costume, made a few adjustments, winged some bunny paws, and voila, Max and Ruby.

G's Partywear

I wanted to do a dino themed party for G's first birthday party this Saturday but I couldn't find dinosaur themed things locally. So off I went to pick up some neat fabrics. I'll be making some of the party accessories, including this outfit I finished this evening! I appliqued the front of a store bought shirt and with some simple fleece I made a pair of pants that double as a diaper cover! I hope it looks cute on him. :)

Gabriel's First Birthday

Today was my "baby's" first birthday

10:53 (ish) September 22nd, 2008

10:53am September 22nd, 2009We marked the big day with his first haircut!

And then we had some cake!
He totally scarfed it! hahaHe was a very happy boy...

Dear Tide:

Dear Tide Laundry Detergent.

As my son's first birthday rapidly approaches, I am still angry with you.

Every few nights or so I pull out my favourite nighttime t-shirt. It's a plain gray men's shirt that I bought in the final weeks of pregnancy. I needed something comfy that covered my whole belly. The front reads (faded now), "A little bit of exercise never killed anyone, but why risk it?". This shirt is well worn... and stain free. Here in lies my annoyance.

For birth I decided this shirt made the cut. I wore it the night I went into labour and it stayed on for the duration. My son was born onto this shirt, in all of his newborn gooey-ness. It was a moment I will cherish until my last breath.

It might be gross, but this shirt marinated in a plastic bag for over a week following his birth. I was going to throw it out until I decided it was impossible to part with. It would be the battle-scared trophy from my natural vbac. I would be able to pull it out, look at the stains and remember my son, newly born, taking his first breath.

And so I washed it. I took it from the dryer, and much to my disappointment, all of the stains were gone. I even hollered out my frustration to hubby, and I mention it almost every time I wear that shirt. I guess next time I'll let it stew in a plastic bag for 2 weeks? Maybe I'll just vacuum seal it as is? Anyone have suggestions on laundry detergents that suck?

Darn Tide.

A dissatisfied satisfied customer,

Rebecca

3 Weeks!

3 weeks until my first 5K run! I'll admit that I've been slacking a little lately. I've only ran 3 times in the past 3 weeks, but a great jog/hike with a friend yesterday has re-energized me.

I assumed I haven't lost anymore weight, but I just hopped on the scale and I'm actually 158 pounds! I started this journey a few months ago at 174 so I've lost 16 pounds total! Woot! I went clothes shopping over the weekend and the sizes are showing the difference. Medium shirts have replaced the larges and I fit easily into a size 11/12 pant. Only 3 more pounds until I'm the same size I was when I got married, and that was my first goal.

I'm actually quite happy with the size I am right now, so I'm not focused as much on weight loss as I am on being fit and able to run longer distances. But I know if I keep up the running, my weight will likely keep going down (and I'll have to keep my second job just to pay for new clothing sizes... haha)

So I'm back to running at least 3 times a week in preparation for the 5k... wish me luck!

The Garden

Our neighbour and I put in two small gardens this spring and things are starting to look lush and bountiful! I grew up around plenty of gardens as a child, but I've never had much patience for growing things myself... I have, however, had that inner desire to grow my own veggies and I'm shocked that it's actually working!

Some tomatoes:
Lettuce in the middle, zucchini lower right:

The peas are looking terribly spindly but I'm still hopefully they'll produce some goodies for us:
Carrots along the right edge, a tall dill plant (only one grew in the entire row, haha), basil in the centre:
Cucumber lower left, chives upper left (these just grew on their own, someone must have planted it here during a previous year), and some more lettuce lower right:
Beans are the bright green plants, they're just starting to flower:
Peppers. I can't believe how these small, seemingly weak plants hold up these large peppers:
It's so much fun to watch things grow. And it's very nice to share the garden tending with another person, she has done more than her fair share of weeding, I need to kick it up a notch in that department.

Take down those shower curtains!

In my weekly (ahem cough sputter) cleaning of the bathroom, I took down the shower curtain in an attempt to clean off the mineral buildup from the clear liner. I threw it in the washing machine, and as per usual, many hours later it was still in there when I wanted to take a shower.

Drat. I settled for a bath. I shooed the children away to their father, and turned on the tap. I added some bubble bath, grabbed the Twilight book I've been meaning to read all summer long and settled into our neglected soaker style tub. It was a lovely, relaxing moment to myself. So my advice is: take down the shower curtain, "forget" it in the washer, pawn your children off on someone and have a bubble bath. You might even get to shave your legs or read a chapter in a book.

Oh, and lock the door. After 12.6 minutes of bubble bath bliss, a two year old had barged through the door, demanded that I strip off her clothing so she could bath too, and in she hopped. So my alone time quickly became hide and seek underwater with Dora the Explorer, but it was nice while it lasted.

And some recent pictures of the kidlets:

G got himself a new "manly" car seat. (have you ever noticed how much money is spent on places for your child to sit?)
And the car seat box is the most fun of course: