Wednesday, 28 April 2010
My Adorable View
This is the view I have most often of the munchkin right now. If there's an open door, there will be running!
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
I'm Official
Yay! I feel all official now - I have a business card. Here it is (minus my telephone number for internet safety):
Sunday, 11 April 2010
Update
I've noticed I've been posting alot of pictures of the cuteness of our munchkin, but not too much of what's really going on in our lives at the moment. So, here's a little blow by blow update:
Mack
Mack is taking a Pashto course at the base right now. (Pashto is one of the languages spoken in Afghanistan.) His unit is expected to deploy next year and so its beneficial to have a couple of people who speak the language, hence his new orders for a full year. He is absolutely thrilled about it, because Mr. Mack thrives on a challenge like this. I am thrilled about it, because it means he's actually home for a full year - which has not happened in our married life to date.
Mack's other obsession right now involves all kinds of technical mumbo and gadgetry involving salt water aquariums. We've decided that its not a good idea for him to start a project of the magnitude he wants his fish tank to be before his deployment, so he's taking the planning and development phase to the max. I have to listen to fish and fish tank trivia ad nauseam, but its all good and rather fun to watch him get so animated about something.
Also, somewhere, somehow, my whinging, whining, performing, tantrums sunk in because lately he has turned into Mr. Wonderful (he's currently cleaning my stove and oven - yes you read that right.) Our home life is peaceful and loving, and we spend alot more time together as a family.
Tamsine
Taz is the delight of both our lives at the moment. She will be two in June, and is at a really funny and interesting stage of her development. She too is obsessed with salt water fish, but her obsession lies with the animated kind. I can pretty much quote (in full) Finding Nemo right now I've watched it so many times. She has started to parrot our phrases back to us (but only if she understands what we're saying), loves that she can recognize certain colours and points them out all the time, and to my delight she still dances everytime she hears music and tries to sing some of the tunes I sing to her. She shuts her eyes tight and then loudly proclaims "amen" before she eats something, and loves to lie in her big girl bed, even though she gets too excited to actually fall asleep in it yet. We have a season pass to the local aquarium, and Taz gets so excited when I tell her we're going. She likes to stand in front of the fish tanks and go, "whoa" when a big fish swims past. I can't wait for the weather to warm up so we can start going to the zoo again.
Leith
I am taking every day one at a time. I still suffer from back pain, but am learning to cope with it, and try not to let it dictate how I live my life. I'm also trying to figure out why I don't sleep at night. I'm trying a few homeopathic things that are helping a bit, so life is on the up-swing for me. I have been working like crazy on fern & lola these past few weeks. We were asked to be a part of an "art as part of everyday life" gallery in Avalon, NJ this summer. We just shipped off our first lot of table cloths, and I received an e-mail from the owner saying how she, "LOVE, LOVE, LOVE",s our stuff and how they're going to sell really well this summer - so I'm holding thumbs that she's right. Hmm, lets see, as far as the war between my sweet tooth and my will power is going, my sweet tooth is still winning, but I give my will power a pep talk every morning and one of these days I hope to see my will power gain a slight advantage. Other than that, I find the mantra I hum to myself more often than not goes, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming."
Life is good at the moment, yep, definitely good!
Mack
Mack is taking a Pashto course at the base right now. (Pashto is one of the languages spoken in Afghanistan.) His unit is expected to deploy next year and so its beneficial to have a couple of people who speak the language, hence his new orders for a full year. He is absolutely thrilled about it, because Mr. Mack thrives on a challenge like this. I am thrilled about it, because it means he's actually home for a full year - which has not happened in our married life to date.
Mack's other obsession right now involves all kinds of technical mumbo and gadgetry involving salt water aquariums. We've decided that its not a good idea for him to start a project of the magnitude he wants his fish tank to be before his deployment, so he's taking the planning and development phase to the max. I have to listen to fish and fish tank trivia ad nauseam, but its all good and rather fun to watch him get so animated about something.
Also, somewhere, somehow, my whinging, whining, performing, tantrums sunk in because lately he has turned into Mr. Wonderful (he's currently cleaning my stove and oven - yes you read that right.) Our home life is peaceful and loving, and we spend alot more time together as a family.
Tamsine
Taz is the delight of both our lives at the moment. She will be two in June, and is at a really funny and interesting stage of her development. She too is obsessed with salt water fish, but her obsession lies with the animated kind. I can pretty much quote (in full) Finding Nemo right now I've watched it so many times. She has started to parrot our phrases back to us (but only if she understands what we're saying), loves that she can recognize certain colours and points them out all the time, and to my delight she still dances everytime she hears music and tries to sing some of the tunes I sing to her. She shuts her eyes tight and then loudly proclaims "amen" before she eats something, and loves to lie in her big girl bed, even though she gets too excited to actually fall asleep in it yet. We have a season pass to the local aquarium, and Taz gets so excited when I tell her we're going. She likes to stand in front of the fish tanks and go, "whoa" when a big fish swims past. I can't wait for the weather to warm up so we can start going to the zoo again.
Leith
I am taking every day one at a time. I still suffer from back pain, but am learning to cope with it, and try not to let it dictate how I live my life. I'm also trying to figure out why I don't sleep at night. I'm trying a few homeopathic things that are helping a bit, so life is on the up-swing for me. I have been working like crazy on fern & lola these past few weeks. We were asked to be a part of an "art as part of everyday life" gallery in Avalon, NJ this summer. We just shipped off our first lot of table cloths, and I received an e-mail from the owner saying how she, "LOVE, LOVE, LOVE",s our stuff and how they're going to sell really well this summer - so I'm holding thumbs that she's right. Hmm, lets see, as far as the war between my sweet tooth and my will power is going, my sweet tooth is still winning, but I give my will power a pep talk every morning and one of these days I hope to see my will power gain a slight advantage. Other than that, I find the mantra I hum to myself more often than not goes, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming."
Life is good at the moment, yep, definitely good!
Sunday, 4 April 2010
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Bathtime
I asked Mack last night if he would keep an eye on Taz while she bathed. He took it one step further....
I DO Love her, I DO Love her....
This is what happens to a couch when a toddler finds a marker and yogurt covered raisins. She sucks on the couch making huge white watermarks, and then draws on it to try and disguise that she sucked on it. I just keep telling myself - I love her, I love her, I love her....
Luckily I have a wonder spray that took all the offending marks out! Whew!
Luckily I have a wonder spray that took all the offending marks out! Whew!
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Oh my Heavens I'm in Love
I'm having a little bit of an obsession with zebra striped area rugs at the moment. I'm just drawn to them right now. Today I found this site, where you can not only get the coolest rugs, but you can use their design your own option and customize the rug with your own colours. Pity the devineness comes with a devine price tag too. This is the one I customized for my "in my dreams" Taz's room. Love it!!
A First for Me
So, I was asked to design a website for a touring company. I didn't end up building the site, just designing it. I don't think the web builder did my design justice, but hey, that's not my problem. I got paid for a job well done. You can go here to see the site. This is how I designed the home page:
Monday, 15 March 2010
fern & lola
We've started a fern & lola blog. Its about things we're making, up-coming events, and just our thoughts and creative ideas. Hopefully we'll fill it with some really cool stuff. For now, check it out, leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Red, White and Blue
I've done it. My paperwork is in. If all goes well, some time later this year I'll have passed all my interviews and tests and I'll take the oath to be sworn in as a legal African American. Hold Thumbs for me.
Minty Green with Envy
If I could hand pick any vehicle to be mine right now, it would be this one. I'm in love with its minty greenness and its vintage chicness. Can't you just picture me behind its wheel?
Monday, 8 March 2010
Tired, Crabby....not so much anymore
Thanks everyone for your advise on how to help with my non-sleeping toddler. Here's the update on how we're doing:
I decided to create a little bit of a longer bedtime routine, and then stick to it. I figured consistency was the key to a happy, healthy and much less annoying toddler. One of my problems was that the Taz wasn't eating very much for dinner, and then was waking up in the middle of the night hungry. So, now I don't feed her any snacks between lunch and dinner so that she eats a bigger meal and is satiated at supper time. Also, Taz's room is much colder than the rest of the house. We have a space heater in her room at night to keep her warm. I was cranking the heat and putting her in really warm pj's to make sure she was toasty. I figured that maybe she was a little too toasty and was waking cause she was overheating, so I turned the heat down to low on the heater and it seems to be helping. I also added another night light to her room so that she has more light to fall asleep to, and then I turn that light off when I go to bed to give her a little bit of a darker room. Taz has been afraid of the dark for quite some time now, and having the extra light seems to comfort her. I decided to wake her at the same time from her afternoon naps, no matter how long she has actually slept, ensuring she has enough time to tire again before bed time. So those where the changes I implemented to help both of us to get her to sleep.
The first night I put her down and let her cry it out. She screamed like a banshee for over 2 hours. Its not natural for a mother to let her child be in any sort of pain, physical or emotional. This night was seriously hard for me, and I think I was more exhausted after the two hours than Taz was. The second night I put her to bed and she fell asleep almost immediately. Third night - about 1/2 hour of crying. Fourth - She screamed for over and hour. Now she seems to be settling into the routine and generally cries for less than 1/2 hour before she sleeps. Hopefully this will get less and less as I stick to her routine.
Man this mothering thing, and trying to figure out what works best for her, without emotionally scarring her for life and turning her into a delinquent teenager is HARD!
I decided to create a little bit of a longer bedtime routine, and then stick to it. I figured consistency was the key to a happy, healthy and much less annoying toddler. One of my problems was that the Taz wasn't eating very much for dinner, and then was waking up in the middle of the night hungry. So, now I don't feed her any snacks between lunch and dinner so that she eats a bigger meal and is satiated at supper time. Also, Taz's room is much colder than the rest of the house. We have a space heater in her room at night to keep her warm. I was cranking the heat and putting her in really warm pj's to make sure she was toasty. I figured that maybe she was a little too toasty and was waking cause she was overheating, so I turned the heat down to low on the heater and it seems to be helping. I also added another night light to her room so that she has more light to fall asleep to, and then I turn that light off when I go to bed to give her a little bit of a darker room. Taz has been afraid of the dark for quite some time now, and having the extra light seems to comfort her. I decided to wake her at the same time from her afternoon naps, no matter how long she has actually slept, ensuring she has enough time to tire again before bed time. So those where the changes I implemented to help both of us to get her to sleep.
The first night I put her down and let her cry it out. She screamed like a banshee for over 2 hours. Its not natural for a mother to let her child be in any sort of pain, physical or emotional. This night was seriously hard for me, and I think I was more exhausted after the two hours than Taz was. The second night I put her to bed and she fell asleep almost immediately. Third night - about 1/2 hour of crying. Fourth - She screamed for over and hour. Now she seems to be settling into the routine and generally cries for less than 1/2 hour before she sleeps. Hopefully this will get less and less as I stick to her routine.
Man this mothering thing, and trying to figure out what works best for her, without emotionally scarring her for life and turning her into a delinquent teenager is HARD!
Happy 60th
My dearest mother turns 60 today. Celebrations were held over the weekend, and a good time was had by all. Happy birthday Ma!
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Tired, Crabby, Moody, Pissy
Q: What do you do with a child that doesn't want to sleep. Her eyes may be rolling back in her head she's so tired, but she fights it with more will power than I think I've ever possessed. If I try to let her cry it out, she will proceed to scream her little lungs out for hours at a time and won't stop until I go into her room and tell her she's going to be okay. She then silent sobs and shudders for about 15 min before I can get her to relax. Then she falls asleep in 2 sec. Its driving me insane!!!
A: This is where you depart your wisdom.... Go, I'm ready for it!
A: This is where you depart your wisdom.... Go, I'm ready for it!
Monday, 15 February 2010
Steamed Chocolate Pudding
Happy Valentine's Day to me! Mack made a steamed chocolate hazelnut pudding with chocolate rum sauce. Divine!
For my wedding shower, a friend of mine gave me a cookbook titled "Chocolate". Mack has taken a great liking to this book and has decided that (ala Julie and Julia) he wants to make every recipe in the book. He started with the mouse a couple of weeks ago, and then made the pudding last night. I'm not complaining at all, but did warn him that he could only concoct these delectables every two weeks or so, lest my bottom balloon to the size of a Macy's parade float.
Feast your eyes on this puppy:
For my wedding shower, a friend of mine gave me a cookbook titled "Chocolate". Mack has taken a great liking to this book and has decided that (ala Julie and Julia) he wants to make every recipe in the book. He started with the mouse a couple of weeks ago, and then made the pudding last night. I'm not complaining at all, but did warn him that he could only concoct these delectables every two weeks or so, lest my bottom balloon to the size of a Macy's parade float.
Feast your eyes on this puppy:
Sunday, 14 February 2010
Farm Country and Devil Fowl
Tamsine is very into all things Old MacDonald at the moment. She runs around the house crowing like a rooster. Frequently breaks into a chorus of mooing sounds, and qacks (yes qacks) like a duck when she's in the bath. She loves to play her peek-a-boo barn app on Mack's i-phone and is addicted to Baby Einstein's Baby McDonald.
So, trying to be the fabulous parents that we are, we decided to give Taz the authentic farm experience by taking her to a nearby petting zoo so she could finally interact with the "real thing". We donned our winter finest and headed to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point.
Things started out very well. She was enraptured by the fiberglass cow replicas at the entrance to Farm Country and made the appropriate mooing sounds when she saw them. Ahhh what a cute child we have. She also really enjoyed the sheep (that just lay there and blinked at us), and the very smiley llamas. She interacted superbly with the goats, giggling and trying to touch their noses as they curiously sniffed at her. So precious.
Alas, the picture of farmy perfectness didn't last too much longer, cause stupidly we rounded the corner and showed her the chickens. She took one look at the fowl runs, decided that chickens and other farm fowl were demon creatures. She then proceeded to claw her way through my down jacket and onto my shoulders where she howled like a banshee and ginormous tear drops (and continuous clawing) soaked my locks into a Medusa style do.
After that, she refused to interact with the horses. Almost had a coronary when we tried to give her a pony ride (on a Shetland that didn't come above my waist), and refused to have anything to do with the pigs unless they came in the form of something on a tasty sandwich. She did enjoy being pulled on a wagon behind a tractor, and started to relax a little on the ride. After the ride she warmed up the Maggie, the Jersey cow. She even struck up a conversation with the cow. She mooed, then mooed again, giggled a bit, held her hand out to the cow ... then the cow mooed back. Apparently she wasn't ready for a two way conversation yet, cause the hysterics returned and everything went south again.
But, being the great parents that we are (as I mentioned before), we soon put things right with junk food and ice cream.
So, trying to be the fabulous parents that we are, we decided to give Taz the authentic farm experience by taking her to a nearby petting zoo so she could finally interact with the "real thing". We donned our winter finest and headed to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point.
Things started out very well. She was enraptured by the fiberglass cow replicas at the entrance to Farm Country and made the appropriate mooing sounds when she saw them. Ahhh what a cute child we have. She also really enjoyed the sheep (that just lay there and blinked at us), and the very smiley llamas. She interacted superbly with the goats, giggling and trying to touch their noses as they curiously sniffed at her. So precious.
Alas, the picture of farmy perfectness didn't last too much longer, cause stupidly we rounded the corner and showed her the chickens. She took one look at the fowl runs, decided that chickens and other farm fowl were demon creatures. She then proceeded to claw her way through my down jacket and onto my shoulders where she howled like a banshee and ginormous tear drops (and continuous clawing) soaked my locks into a Medusa style do.
After that, she refused to interact with the horses. Almost had a coronary when we tried to give her a pony ride (on a Shetland that didn't come above my waist), and refused to have anything to do with the pigs unless they came in the form of something on a tasty sandwich. She did enjoy being pulled on a wagon behind a tractor, and started to relax a little on the ride. After the ride she warmed up the Maggie, the Jersey cow. She even struck up a conversation with the cow. She mooed, then mooed again, giggled a bit, held her hand out to the cow ... then the cow mooed back. Apparently she wasn't ready for a two way conversation yet, cause the hysterics returned and everything went south again.
But, being the great parents that we are (as I mentioned before), we soon put things right with junk food and ice cream.
Monday, 1 February 2010
Chocolate Mousse
Every now and then my husband gets a culinary itch. Yesterday was a very itchy day for him. Usually I dread those days because it means I get to clean up after him (although we have been doing a 12 step program for him called - How not to annoy your wife). Yesterday however, his itch included ALOT of chocolate. Enough said!
This is what he made: ( I will not show you a picture of what it did to my thighs.)
And this is how Taz enjoyed it:
Preserve Me!
This is what he made: ( I will not show you a picture of what it did to my thighs.)
And this is how Taz enjoyed it:
Preserve Me!
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