In the Works

Just a brief note, carefully planned to make life look cheerful and the children well, neither of these being in fact true.  nevertheless, i perservere, making frothy garments that my child is certain to be underwhelmed by.  alas.   enough with the self-pity, here is my latest design:

clearly, it needs finishing, but i think you can get the general idea.  i did, earlier this morning, threaten to give it to someone else’s child.  oh, what a great and sensitive mommy i can be sometimes.  I apologize for the somewhat jaundiced tone of this little epistle to all of you; there has been a lot of illness in our house over the past few months (with all the attendant sleep deprivation and worry), and it does wear on me sometimes.  agatha is currently sporting “Fifth’s disease” or “slapped-cheek”, characterised by a charming raspberry migrating rash and general malaise.   and, edmund’s little cheeks are looking mighty rosy now as well.  the good news is, however, that the appearance of the rash means that the child is no longer contagious.  therefore, the unsightly rash is more socially leprous than medically dangerous.

Question o’ the day:  What do you do when cooped up in the house for long periods of time?  how do you keep sane?  note the distinctly leading tone here

p.s. i am fine.  honestly.  i’m just attempting to make exhaustion and illness humourous, rather than defeating, as they sometimes feel.

Gift Exchange

So excited to show you what is going on in our playroom right now.  but, first let me give a brief background.  I have been talking about an Olivia playroom since we moved into this house. And, in fact, it is quite true to the colour scheme of the books:

However, what has always been missing is an actual illustration of Olivia. Enter Maggie, my friend the fantastic fine artiste. About a week ago, Maggie asked me if i would snap a family photo for them for their christmas cards in exchange for an Olivia illustration.  woohoo.  Totally unfair trade, if you ask me, since i have next-to-no technical expertise with a camera.  just a good camera and an okay eye.  and, despite my nervousness, i think we did okay on sunday:

That said, last night Maggie came over and worked her illustrating magic on the wall.  And, better yet, it’s not just Olivia we’re getting:

So, I guess this means we’re getting a dog, then.  I can’t wait for the final paint/marker/shading session.  I’ll be sure to post photos. (i know it’s hard to see the pencil lines right now)

Question o’the day:  what is your favourite decorative item in your living space?

Making Carol Burnett and Scarlett O’Hara Proud

It was “Fairy Tale and Nursery Rhyme Day” in agatha’s class today.  Having decided to veto yet another princess costume, agatha and i (okay, i) suggested that we make a Little Red Riding Hood costume. (because i am crazy.)  Raiding Auntie Tara’s (thank you, and thank IKEA) scrap fabric bins, we struck upon some perfect material: old curtains.  (hence the title of this post.  if you don’t know what i’m talking about, read Gone With the Wind, or check out the much more hilarious Carol Burnett show clip.)
So, here she is:

Here she is with some of her friends:

(apparently, i was one of the only mommies to veto the princess thing.)

And, one of the best characters, the frog from the “The Frog Prince”:

And, to make it all that much more perfect, Daddy made Rice Krispie treats for agatha to carry in her basket and share, and her teacher was also Little Red Riding Hood.

All in all, a great day…now, if only agatha hadn’t had a sore throat all day…looks like more colds ahead.  good times.

Question o’ the Day:  Do you remember dressing up for something at school?  What did you dress as?

Crafting Flashbacks

Did anyone else have something like this when they were little?  Mine wasn’t so cool, but i do remember spending HOURS knitting a little rug for my dolls.  I picked this up from Dressew this morning, ostensibly for agatha, but it might be a bit beyond her ability, so i guess i’ll just have to use it for now

Speaking of Dressew, i got in trouble there this morning.  I’m such a pathetically fragile person, i nearly cried.  one of the ladies (not one of our regular dressew ladies) found me in the very narrow flannel aisle and told me i had to keep my kids with me at all times.  She didn’t ask, she told.  She did say that they were well-behaved (completely within earshot, ps by the way), but was a bit on the brusque side for my liking.  We booted out of the store so i could re-group.  anyhoo, i still had to go back in to purchase the items i’d come all the way downtown on the bus for, but i was still pretty upset about it all.

Jennifer is…blog-negligent.

does that even mean anything?  seriously, though, it’s been 6 days !! since i put cursor to screen to report the various happenings here in milleyville.  you deserve better.  you deserve pictures.

that said, i am working on some christmasy projects:

what? chaos? what?

here’s one thing i have actually produced in the last week:

It’s a little fivestar cloche.  i’m quite delighted with the result; but, as you’ll perhaps notice, it isn’t agatha modelling it for me.  she won’t sit still long enough.

as for the rest of life, it’s similarly chaotic.  we’ve reached that “Oh-my-word-it’s-time-to-organize-agatha’s-birthday-and-all-of-Christmas” portion of the year.  it’s insane.  so please forgive me in advance for some rather uneven posting over the coming weeks.

i do, in fact, have a snotty and semi-hysterical child on my lap as i type this, so that’s all for now, folks.

oh, a question o’ the day: what are your favourite podcasts/radio shows/tv shows during the winter months?

Bring on the Grey…

This morning, as the ever-darkening rain clouds spit forth their aqueous offering, i am sitting here in a cozy sweater, listening to the sounds of my children play companionably in the playroom (let’s see how long it lasts).  I am missing tyler and emma, who today attended the coronation of the 5th dragon king of Bhutan. for real.  i don’t know about you, but i have less glamorous aspirations for my day: photocopying for my class, perhaps a solo trip to dressew, a bike-on-the-trainer ride, agatha’s parent-teacher conference.  the usual.

nevertheless, as the weather seems to have, with finality, turned to its mucky vancouver winter vestments, i am thinking of warm and cozy things:  a winter open house, making christmas presents, eggnog lattes, poetry writing, maybe even a painting or two.  i am likewise grateful on a day like today for the warm (and mostly dry) house i live in.  i often disparage its somewhat dilapidated appearance, but i am truly thankful for its presence.

none of this little post is particularly exciting or noteworthy, but it fulfills the need to connect with those of you near and far.  Question o’ the day:  What are your winter plans?  Jetting off somewhere warm?  staying in with a stack of books?  hunkering down with full-spectrum lights to wait it out?  i, as always, await your answers.

Sloth, thy name is Jennifer.

It is perhaps telling that sloths are, in fact, my favourite members of the animal kingdom.  despite my at times frenetic energy, secretly i yearn to spend some 20+ hours a day sleeping.  Right now, for instance.  instead of washing my floors on hands and knees or prepping dinner for a guest right now, i am typing this.  wasting valuable “Mr. Rogers Time,”  i sit here transfixed and completely reluctant to move, knowing full well that the less i do now, the more i have to accomplish later.  alas.  it is one of the pitfalls of being ‘in charge’; somedays i need SOMEONE ELSE to administer the swift kick that would send me into gear.  any takers?

How about all of you?  finding yourselves in need of a little hibernation?  harried and harrassed by unfeeling superiors/co-workers/small people?  consider this my question o’ the day.

for now, i guess i’ll go back to washing floors and cleaning bathrooms, instead of waiting for pollster.com to load.  oh, and my american reader(s):  good luck to you today.  may your 330 million turn out in force.

Well, the teenagers got it…