It’s Done!

Agatha’s first book is finally (after 4 days) complete! All hers from conception to publication, I give you

Ellie the Pig’s First Day of School
by Agatha Milley

Question O’ the Day: What was your favourite self-started project as a kid?

Pre-Picture Day Pictures

We were practising this morning. Agatha prefers the “Cat-Who-Just-Swallowed-Canary” no-teeth smile. I’d like her to show those cute little ferret teeth. The result? Decide for yourself:

Question o’ the day: What was your best school photo ever? Was it the outfit? The expression? The hair? The cheezed out studio background?

am still alive…barely

just wanted to let all of you know that i’m still around, and i haven’t let this blog thing go forever or anything. i’m just finding (WARNING: CLICHE TO FOLLOW) the start of school, and being a school mom, a lot more time-consuming and stressful than i ever imagined. for example: every day begins at 6:45 (or earlier), followed by a rush to get everyone out the door, then a whirlwind of errands, feed smallest person lunch, put down for nap, do laundry/dinner prep/cleaning/exercising/sewing, get littlest one up, rush to school, pick up stressed out first grader. bring semi-comatose school child home. attempt to entertain/ignore/coddle/coax/cajole said person into not imploding while making dinner and lunches for following day. welcome work-distracted spouse home. serve dinner to largely unappreciative small people. clean them, read to them, put them in bed. sew or work or enter tv coma for 2 hrs. fall into bed. repeat. repeat. repeat. dude. i barely have time to even type in a facebook status, and i’ve left twitter behind for now.
anyhoo, let’s turn the focus on to you now. Question O’ the Day: Tell me what you love about Fall. or hate about it. just give me a run down of your feelings about this time of year. will accept: well-focused precise paragraphs, one-liners, haiku, stream of consciousness, beat poetry, etc.

backlog

apparently, i’m remiss in the posting of photos. truthfully, i’ve got a bunch that have been slowly building up across various cameras. I WILL GET TO the posting of back to school images, only let me first post a few of the pics i’ve accrued over the last 2 weeks.

My First Garden

It has produced copious amounts of chives, dill, pumpkins, but principally and gloriously, tomatoes!

which i’ve learned how to denude

and make into my own paste (now frozen in cubes)

these cheeky beauties have likewise enhanced some sauce and soup and salad.

End of Summer Outings
We again braved the PNE (or Pacific National Exhibition) for that overcrowded-cotton-candy-OD-overpriced-hypefest feeling.

We also went on a little adventure to the Stave Lake Dam in Mission, where we toured the ancient powerhouse, and pressed many buttons on many displays.

All the exploring tired us out:

Belated Birthday Celebrations

The kids help me make a cake for myself, since i MUST HAVE BIRTHDAY CAKE. it’s a bit of a compulsion. please note the “patchwork” effect of icing that they so cunningly achieved:

There, now we’re almost up to date. As for the back to school stuff, like I say, I’m working on it. truthfully, am having trouble converting a video from my phone to a usable format. In any case, a Back-To-School Question o’ the Day: What was/is your favourite ritual of the back to school scenario? clothes? supplies? packed lunches?

Housecleaning

An apt title for today, as I am both avoiding the task in my actual abode, but managing to do some organizing and resizing of photos here on the computer. I give a random assortment of photos from the summer so far.


Waterpark fun

Cooling down in the creek at mes parents’

a rare, if slightly blurry, photo of my camera-shy sister


rollin’ rural style

my handsome husband, in an inadvertent send-up of the James Dean photo

me as flowerchild

the trees at the top of my parents’ hill (which i am apparently obsessed with)

Question o’ the day: What is your most memorable summer 09 moment (so far)?

when mummy cleans the bathroom…

it’s time to suck on an ink pad!


Question o’ the day: what’s the grossest thing you ate as a small child? or, have you ever had your stomach pumped (alcohol poisoning doesn’t count)?

Summer feet.

ever since i was a wee’un, i have been mildly obsessed with my feet. perhaps it is because they are freakishly skinny, often the only part of me able to lay claim to that descriptor. in any case, there is a moment, a moment that happens only once every few years, where my humble toesies become the perfect symbol for a perfect summer.

this year, it’s made even better by the addition of friendship anklets (or, “piglet anklets” as edmund calls them). agatha made mine herself.

A perfect summer, you say? What makes it a perfect summer?  Well, this:

several hilarious and mostly successful rounds of scrabble,

baking and craft sessions just me and the kiddies,

down time,

day trips with cousins,

water fun of all kinds,

and Canada Day cuteness.

As a sidenote, i love how a gallery of photos distills the fun times, making them far outshine the regular bumps and hiccups of daily life.

Now, we’re back, and into the thick of our first summer of lessons.  Just swimming and yoga, mind you, but the first sessions where both the children are occupied at the same time.

so, now that you’re overwhelmed with photos, a Question O’ the Day:

what makes a summer perfect?

Not to be left out

I also captured these images this morning of Edmund, discovering the joy of sorting and patterns.

Next Question O’ the Day:  What was the last actvity that you were really engaged in and absorbed with?

A day at home

Agatha’s home sick today, so it’s been a chance for all of us to mellow out a little bit.  i’m practising with the manual focus on my portrait lens, and Agatha actually (for once) obliged me by sitting for a few portraits.  here they are:

Question o’ the Day:  What was the last thing that really made you smile?

where the heck have i been

indeed.  it’s been awhile, ladies and gents, since last i posted.  what can i say?  i’m teaching sewing two nights a week, the prep for which seriously cuts into my blogging time.  that said, i have attempted, in the last two days, to make a photo record of some of the happenings here in milleyville.

Small Visitors:

On Monday, the delightful Ember joined us while her parents were finishing up term papers.

(Note the hairstyle.  apparently, we inflict it on all tiny people who enter our realm.)

Then, on Thursday, we got to hang with Moses:

who’s starting to crawl, btw.  (also note the lack of pigtails here.  while moses is growing a sweet fro, it’s not yet ample enough for hair elastics.  but don’t think we haven’t considered it.)

Creative Projects:

as happens every year when the sun *finally* shines, i go a little mad for the artistic pursuits.  in the last two weeks, i have made:

this nightie re-purposed from agatha’s extra curtains,

a skirt for myself out of this amazing fabric, and

this pair of capris for agatha, my first foray into designing pants.  In my head, i’ve also begun a version of the adelaide pinney for agatha, using some fantastic fabric, that will match the pants.

Outdoor Cleaning:

or, as other people title it, “Gardening”.  both the children, but particularly agatha, are obsessed with growing things.  we’ve been germinating seeds in cups in the house, but last week finally gave in, joined the masses, and purchased some starter materials for our own wee kitchen garden.  I have to say, it’s been quite fun, and certainly gets us outside.  All of it is made possible, however, by the fact that Edmund is now somewhat independent and self-sufficient when outside, puttering about with some favourite toys. Meanwhile, agatha spends time observing the lifestyle and behaviours of worms, or helps with the weeding and clearing.  almost idyllic, actually.  Let’s hope some of the plants will actually take

On a totally random note, i conclude with a photo of Edmund, because who doesn’t love a picture of a kid covered in marshmallows and chocolate?

question o’ the day:  are there any tasks/projects you are likely to take up in the spring?