Pizza Night

Welcome to Ketchup

Secret Message

Baby Bjork

If you ever run out of hair product, I can highly recommend a combination of Laughing Cow cheese, strawberry jam, and the juice of a fresh plum. Rub together on a plate, then repeatedly rub the plate back and forth across your head.

Darling Buds of February

This is the magnolia tree we can see from the house. One day pretty soon I'm going to post a photo of it in all it's amazing pink glory. But for now, there are buds. And these buds have given me hope that Spring will arrive, despite wind chills of 9 degrees F.

Clean Sheet Night

Ah, it's one of my favourite things! And yes, just in case you were wondering, I do iron my pillowcases. It's so worth it.

Cake in Action

All I See are the Flaws

10 inch, two layer Chocolate Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, topped with bittersweet chocolate shavings, for my Father-In-Law's birthday. The kitchen was too cold when I did the frosting and it set too quickly, before I could get it close to perfect. I have to keep reminding myself that it gets cut and eaten, not hung in a gallery somewhere!

I also need lessons on cake photography, but that's another story ...

First Person

Front Rolling In

This is this evening's view from the front of our house, across the park.

Eeeewwww

We were eating hummus for lunch today and eldest daughter was, shall we say, not impressed. Looks like she didn't inherit the Arabic tastebuds.

Valentine Roses

In Repose

Can you tell they're brother and sister?

Etiquette Lesson

Here we see the girls practicing how to burp "politely" at the dinner table.

It's a work in progress.

Rite of Passage

I know I'm breaking my one photo per day rule here but this was a moment made up of moments.

She made it to (almost) 3 and a half before her first haircut. Today she went to the salon with a head of flyaway curls and came home with bouncy blonde waves. She was more than a little apprehensive but oh so brave, and by the end of it, after I sat under the dryer to demonstrate, she was having a fabulous time.

I brought home a foil wrapped clipping of her babyness.



We both had to be brave.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Look at This Face

This is the "food is coming" face. Truly, is there anything cuter?

Thank You ...

... Ben and Jerry.

Ahem

You can't take your eyes off them for a second. Seriously.

My Girls

Over the river and through the woods ...

... to grandmother's house we go!

Out and About

Sometimes it's nice to run errands with just a couple of kids.

Group Hug

New Approach

This is supposed to help with the nerve pain. There's also physical therapy and more testing to come. Oh, and did I mention the part about not lifting more than 5lbs? It's not going well so far.

Excitement

We were going about our usual morning activities when the doorbell rang. A park ranger and fireman asked me to grab the kids and take them outside. Our next-door neighbours had smelled natural gas and they wanted to make sure there wasn't a leak. There wasn't, but there were lights and sirens, and much excitement. Did I mention it was 20 degrees outside? I was glad it only lasted a few minutes.

Tough Day

It's not easy being 9 years old. He was at school from 8:30 till 2:30, then advanced math until 3:45, after which he rehearsed for the school play until after 6pm. There was time for a quick dinner and then quite a bit of homework, more than I remember having at his age.

Do we push them too hard?

Is He For Real?

These are the faces of children whose Dad came home from work and made them chocolate chip cookies to have after dinner.

Obsession

I love my Kindle. 

In the last week, I've been immersed in the lives of characters in present day Boston (Every Visible Thing), turn of the (20th) century Ireland (The Marriage Bed), and, currently, 19th century China (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan).

Amazon loves me, too. It's so easy. You browse, you click, and in seconds the book is in your hands. And this summer, when the movers come, none of the books I've read and loved will go into boxes. They'll all be in my purse.