Just like Hansel and Gretel......

Do you remember the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, where they leave a trail of breadcrumbs so they can find their way home?  You can read the synopsis of the fairy tale here.

Last week the girls came for a sleep over and amongst all the things they brought (they do not travel lightly!!) were their new slippers.  Paige had lovely little bear slippers, which were really cute and Nora brought these ones:

Aren't they gorgeous all furry and glittery.  I thought they were lovely; 24 hours later not so much!!!  This is where Hansel and Gretel comes in, unlike them though there was no trail of breadcrumbs, there was a trail of glitter where Nora had been...........all through the house.  A week later I am still finding glitter.....LOL

We had the following conversation about her slippers:

Nana: "I love your slippers Nora; I wonder where mommy got them?"

Nora: " Mommy didn't bring them, Santa did!"

Nana: "Oh well I guess I won't be able to get them if Santa brought them for you?"

This as Nora wanders off to do her own thing..............

1st Birthday Party......

Our little man turns one on Monday.  They had his birthday party on Saturday.  It was baseball themed.  He has 7 teeth and can take the odd step.  Can't believe how fast this year has gone by.

Here is one of the three cousins together:

A good time was had by all.

The other daycare mother's must hate her....

I know I am biased but we have a very talented daughter.  It was crazy hair day at daycare on Friday and this is what she did Nora.  Very effective don't you think?

This is what she did the other year......

Me personally; I have no talent when it comes too hair!!!

What's worse, too many or too little?

Went to the Pickering Butter Tart Festival on Saturday.  There must have been a dozen butter tart vendors, along with other arts and crafts vendors there.  It got to the point of being overwhelmed by butter tarts and having to try and make a decision.

I ended up buying half a dozen butter tarts, half a dozen fern tarts and a package of shortbread crack😕 The confused face was about the shortbread crack, I'll get more into that later.

Below is a photo.  

Top left: Fern Tart, Top right: Creme Brulee Butter Tart
Middle row: Plain Butter Tarts
Bottom Left: Skor Butter Tart, Bottom Right: Pecan Butter Tart

We purchased the butter tarts from Annina's Bakeshop who are from Goodwood, Ontario.  They are super good and the pastry is delicious, which to my mind is as important as the butter tart filling.

We purchased the Fern Tarts from Our Little Bakery Inc, who are located in Ajax, Ontario.  Now the Fern Tarts are sort of like Bakewell Tarts with coconut and in this case walnuts in the batter.  Here is a link to one recipe.  We are more used to Bakewell Tarts in our house, but they were very nice.

Now for the Shortbread Crack I had never heard of it, and actually thought I had misheard what the guy called it. It tasted a bit like fudge too me, and is addictive!   Here is a link to the company's Facebook page.  From what I could gather it's a shortbread version of crack that is usually made with Saltine Crackers, like this recipe.

There was a lady doing face painting and making balloon animals.  She was really good and did a beautiful job on Nora's face:

Overall it was a great morning out.  I did shovel snow from the driveway when we got home to try and work off some of the goodies!!!

Those 50 cent bags from Fabricland........

are really handy, and I am loving them.  Made a couple more things with some of the things from them.

I think in total I got 12 of the 50 cent bags that I talked about here.  Divided up amongst the bags were all these beads, and "button's."  The group of "buttons" in the top left of the photo, I actually have an idea on how to use them........

 I decided to make a necklace for Nora using all the beads and some elastic thread.

She loves to wear necklaces.  Her mother will trim up the elastic when she gets it.

There was also a piece of organza type material in one.  I cut that in half, got some cheap craft ribbon and thread and decided to make produce bags.  I only have one left from when I made some in 2008, which I blogged about here.

 I cut some pieces of ribbon longer than the width of the material.  Turned over the shorter edge and sewed a pocket wide enough so the ribbon could go through it.  Did the same on the other end as well.

Sew up both side seams, I just used a straight stitch.

I then took my pinking shears and trimmed the edges.  Tied a knot in the ribbon to join them.

Turned them right side out and there you have it, two produce bags in less than half an hour.

They are washable.  They could be made with any scraps of netting, tulle or organza.  The key to this project is to use a light weight fabric, so not to add extra weight and so the cashier can see the produce codes.  The finished sizes of these bags are around 10 inches wide by 12 inches long.

Simple, easy and good for the environment!

Another Barbie dress, made with more material from the bags:

Then dh bought some Forearm Forklift straps from Canadian Tire and needed a bag to put them in:

Both material and cording came from one of the bags.  By the way the Forearm Forklift straps got a 10 out of 10 from dh, as he along with son and son-in-law were moving a washer and dryer and the boys said it made life a lot easier using them.

Barbie Clothes.........

Nitara was given a few Barbie Dolls from a friend, but very few, if any clothes with them.  So her mum gave me four of the dolls, so I could make some clothes for them and give them as part of her birthday gift.  One of the Barbie's I am keeping as my model; however I have discovered that not all Barbies are built the same.  Some have bigger bosoms (if that could be possible😕) and some have bigger butts than others???

Anyway, got her a bag of clothes made and here are some photos:

The strapless dress pattern is from here and it is such a great pattern and very easy to do.  Just follow the instructions, though I did alter it slightly as my Barbie's bosoms were a tad bigger so I increased the bodice size to 6 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches.   I did not put straps in those dresses as these are for a five year old, so wanted to make them as easy as possible to put on.  I was given some Lycra swimsuit material and that is the best for the little leotards, and tube dresses.

The leopard print jacket pattern is from here.  Pretty straight forward and I made a matching skirt by sewing a tube and putting some elastic in the top.  I found a scrap of fleece type fabric in one of the scraps bags I bought at Fabricland.

The two tutu's are just netting with elastic threaded through the top of the waist.  I will never win an award for precision, but I bet the girls (made a set for Nora as well) will love them.

By the way I bought this set from Amazon and the quality was rubbish.  The dresses were awful, I am just hoping that they shoes and other accessories are okay, as then it was worthwhile ordering them.

I will continue to make dresses for them as it's fun and I have a few ideas of my own I want to try out.

By the way despite washing all the Barbies hair and dousing them with conditioner their hair still looked like a rats nest, so I found some pony tail bands and just put their hair in a pony tail.  I am getting too old for this brushing a Barbie's hair lark!!!

Giggle Girls Jewelry............

At the show on Saturday there was one vendor who was a 4 year old's dream...............Giggle Girls Jewelry.

My photo's don't do these necklaces any justice, they are really, really cute and are well worth the money.  

 They even had Christmas ones.

 Nora finally chose an Elsa necklace after much consideration.  She was busy eating a candy cane when I took this photo.

We headed back to the vendor later on to purchase a necklace for Nitara for her birthday and all the Elsa necklaces had gone.   They were super busy and I am guessing they had a good day with many sales.

This is an oldie from my youth..........

Flu Shot

(image credit)

For the first time ever DH and I got our flu shots.  Last time I was at the doctor's he said that DH really should have a flu shot because as he put it; 

"he is the poster boy of the people who really should have a flu shot."

His chest is so bad when he gets a cold, and unlike normal/regular people it takes him months to get rid of a cold.

As with most things in life it seems, he won't do these sort of things unless I do it.  The only thing I have refused point blank to do before him is get a colonoscopy..........no point in asking me why not!!!

We went to our local Wal-Mart where our pharmacy is and one of the pharmacists did it.  Very painless, quick and easy.  We even got a bandaid/plaster on our "wound," which I proudly showed Nora via Facetime.  She has a bandaid/plaster fetish!!  However she had a nicer bandaid on her knee (AGAIN!) which she had to show me.  No point in competing with a four year old as to who has the most and or better bandaids, it seems.

Do you get a flu shot?

Big Day for the two "N's"

as they both start full time Kindergarten/School today.  

Nitara has been ready for many months, and as her birthday is in January she will be one of the older kids in her year.  Over here the intake period is the year you were born, whereas in Britain, you had to be born between the prior September through to August.  So Nora is still only there so she will be one of the younger ones.

Nitara will go to school on a yellow school bus, so is all excited about that.  Nora will walk to school, or her dad will drop her off.  Both are excited about going to school, but what will happen on the actual day who knows.  I do know that Nitara will probably be fine, but Nora will have tears.

Nora will transition into the routine a lot better, as she is used to daycare.  Whereas Nitara hasn't been to daycare, so may find it a little harder to figure out the social aspect of it all.  Regardless, both will be fine after the first few days.  Here are a few photos of the two "N's" from Saturday.

When they both start talking it's difficult to get a word in edge ways!!  I do love these two and they love one another.

Our Nora is fitter than me!!

Dh took Nora down to the river the other day while she was here.  As I had not been down that way dh took me down to the river on Saturday afternoon.  Now going down there wasn't a problem, it was the coming back up the hills that turned out to be an issue.

Nora had no problem walking there and back; thought I was going to croak....LOL  Totally out of breath despite taking breaks and walking at a snail's pace.  Guess I am not as fit yet as I thought I would be.  Sitting down in the chair for a while when we got home did the trick and my heavy breathing stopped.

Sad when you think about it, that a 3 year old can out pace her Nana!

Out of the mouth of babes..........

Nana (me): We are having grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch.

Nora: Okay

Nana (me): and if you eat that up you can have a banana pudding

Nora: that sounds disgusting..........

Nana..........I couldn't think of anything to say after that!!!

By the way she tried the banana pudding and didn't like it........

Happier Post

Thought we needed a change of direction, after the last couple of days' post's.  Haven't mentioned the girls for a while, so thought I'd update you with a couple of photos.

Here is our little butterball, who is now 4 months old.  She is playing with toys now and can roll over.  After being miserable for the first 6 weeks of life is now the most content, cheerful little soul.  Her mum uses some sort of app to add all the graphics.

Then we have our other little Munchkin who will be 3 next month.  She is a right little character, talking up a storm and wrapping her dad round her little finger.  Here she is at cooking class.  Loblaws offer them a couple of times a month; she was making chicken quesadilla's and churros at this class.

She also takes swimming classes and is in gymnastics.  Paige just looks like her sister and will be tall like Nora is.  We are buying Nora size five clothes now just for the length.

I'll talk about the other three another day.

Say hello to our new granddaughter......

Paige Elizabeth was born June 15th @ 4:10 pm, weighing at 7 lbs 4 oz.  Both mother and baby doing well.  Big sister more interested in the ice chips her mother got to "eat."  Paige looks exactly Nora did when she was born.

Nora is ready for the summer........

She had her first swimming lesson on Thursday and by all accounts it was a huge success.  She is a water baby through and through.

Did I show you a photo of the Easter Bunny.  What will they think of next?

Thought it was a bit creepy myself.  We never had an Easter Bunny in our house. It wasn't something we did in England and we never did it here.  The kids knew we bought them an Easter egg every year and I can't even remember if they got a new outfit and a toy for Easter as well.........I know we always got new socks in England at Easter growing up.

Easter isn't a big thing for us in this house.  The kids are coming up on Easter Sunday for lunch, but it won't be anything fancy.  Bought Nora some things for Easter and I'll likely by the "kids" some chocolate so they don't whine (dd!!) otherwise that will be it.

We have a 5 month old Easter Bunny...........

She has now mastered the art of rolling over.....so even taking a photo is something that needs to be done fast before she loses interest and rolls over!!

Her favourite food is now pureed, carrots, rutabaga and sweet potato, and of course any fruit.

She starts swimming lessons tomorrow, and I am going so there will be photos!!

New house coming along nicely.  Garage door on now and the stair railings, going down the basement.

Put the lawn tractor on Kijiji, had one reply at $5,500, holding out for the $6,000 though.

Heading out today, will report back telling what I was up too tomorrow!!

Two gorgeous girls.........

Finally got dd to give me permission to post a photo of her.  Just love this photo of her and Nora.

Nora's outfit is from The Gap, just love it.

 Here she is talking to Sophie, the must have toy for all babies nowadays!!

 She was all dressed up to go to her future husbands first birthday party!!  If that falls through though there is always Prince George!!!

Babysitting Miss Nora............

Here is the little cherub:

Doesn't that face say "I am so sweet!!"

It was our son's 30th birthday on April 4th and dd decided to throw him a surprise party, which by all accounts was a success.  We were invited, but as it didn't start until 9pm and that is our bedtime we decided to pass and babysit our little cherub!!

Nora's parent left just after 6 pm and I had a list of instructions on what to do and what not to do and when.  So as per the instructions we could feed her, her squash and pears (in that order) around 6:30 pm.  So I put her in the high chair and she DID NOT like that one bit and was very vocal about it.  So fine we took her out and decided to calm her down, but that didn't really work.  So figured as per the list she had to have a bath around 7 pm.  Well she has this fold up thing like this which was perfectly fine when Miss Nora was tiny but at 16 lbs, she is squished in there.  Again suffice to say she wasn't happy about having a bath either and the way she arched her back I was surprised she didn't escape.  Miss Nora's parents are buying another bigger bath for her, but hadn't got it before the weekend.

So got her all dried and dressed and she still isn't happy.  Walked her up and down and she stops wailing and even manages to smile at us.  By this point we are heading towards to 8 pm mark, and we still haven't fed her.  Oh and by this point the bloody list has been thrown out.  Managed to get her fed, by giving her the pear first and then slipping in the squash.  She wouldn't take the bottle for love or money though and starts wailing again.  

To cut a long story short I finally got her in the crib at 11 pm.  Poor dh had to be up at 3:30 am to go to work.  There is a footpath in the living room carpet now where we/I walked her back and forward.  Dh and I were exhausted.  We couldn't get over how someone so small can cause so much chaos!!!  Dd and son-in-law came home around 1:30 pm and went to bed.  Miss Nora got up for a feed around 5:30 am and then slept to 8:30 am.  She was back to sleep by 10 am until after 12 noon as she was that tired..........I wonder why!!!

It's when she turns at you and smiles and talks to you your heart just melts, then she has a hissy fit a minute later.  Despite her mother telling me she has strawberry blonde hair I reckon it's more red and she has the temper to go with it.  I told dd and son-in-law to please feel free to ask his mother to babysit next time!!!  I don't think it's fair that I should have all the fun, do you?

Miss Nora had been out of sorts and the change of house, plus everything else must have effected her.  We will of course babysit anytime they ask, as we wouldn't want to miss out.  However dh must make sure he's not working the next day as we need a day or two to recover.

Okay stop the whining I give in........

I have had a couple of people complain about the lack of blog posts recently.  The reason for this is a couple of things.  

• I have got hooked on my Kobo and once I get into a book I forget about everything. 
• I am busy with sorting stuff for moving, which is still including decluttering and getting rid of 25 things per week.
• I just can't be bothered, as honestly nothing overly exciting has been happening and who wants to hear me whine constantly about the bloody weather.........and yes it snowed again this morning; "God please grant me patience with this rotten weather!"

Anyhow it turns out "stuff" has been happening and one thing in particular I "forgot" to blog about and I am getting told off for it.

The other week I was at dd with her best friend and her mother and we had a crafting day making this wreath:

Now little did I realize this would involve me doing work!!  I went to socialize and look after Nora.  Anyway, dd and best friend "K" had other ideas!!  This started out with Styrofoam wreaths that had to be wrapped with grey yarn.  Do you know how long those bloody wreaths took to wrap with yarn???  TO LONG!!!  My poor hands were killing me, but did dd and "K" care, NO !!  Suffice to say I had plenty to say on the subject and as usual they both ignored me.  Both "K's" mom and I managed to wrap one wreath each while we were there.  The girls made all the flowers out of felt, they said if you go on Pinterest there are plenty of instructions on how to do this.  The bunny was made with stiffened felt and it can be taken off to display year round, not just at Easter.

I must say it is pretty impressive looking and it could be hung on your front door as long as it's kept out of the weather.  In my case it has to go inside.

One other thing dh and I did was babysit Nora on the weekend.  So please come back tomorrow to see how that all turned out!!!  Suffice to say I hope to have my energy back by the end of the week!!

Got this email: Nora's been charged with Robbery!!!

....good thing she has a stylish prisoners outfit to wear!! Hahaha :)

  Poor Nora, she doesn't look happy does she?

 As Miss Nora is now 15 1/2 lbs the doctor suggested introducing solids, so here is Miss Nora eating her baby rice.

Dd is introducing yellow and orange veggies starting next week, one at a time a different one every couple of days to make sure Miss Nora isn't allergic to anything.

Managed to get rid of something else via Kijiji.  Gosh there are some odd ball people out there.......

It seemed simple enough, put Nora down for a nap............

Dd told me all I had to remember was:

• Close the blind
• Turn the swing onto number 4
• Turn the sleep sheep onto rain

So me and Nora wander upstairs and all is good.  Close the blind - check.  All is still good.  Place Nora in the swing and manage to get her strapped in.  Nora not very happy by now!  Manage to find the switch and the number 4 and turn it on.  Didn't have my glasses on so took a minute.  Nora REALLY not happy now.  Thank goodness I strapped Nora in as now she is letting the whole neighbourhood know this was not her idea to go down for a nap and is trying to escape.

Meanwhile as her Nana left the door partly open Olive and Rhubarb made an appearance, as poor Olive seemed very concerned with the fact that Nora was screaming blue bloody murder!!  So I chase out the cats and find the bloody sleep sheep and turn it on.  Now due to the lack of glasses, I couldn't see the word rain, but at least it was making a noise.

Figured as Nora was not happy I would take her out of the swing.  The only problem with that I couldn't figure out how to open the straps and couldn't see it probably as I didn't have my glasses on.  I finally get her out and decide after rocking her to put her in the crib in front of the aquarium; that was simple to turn on.

That calmed her down watching that.  Then dd materialized to see what I was doing and decided that no Nora would not go to sleep in her crib and she would put her back in the swing which was still swinging minus baby, as I couldn't see the switch to turn it off.

I go back downstairs exhausted and ready for a nap myself.  Oh and it was at this point I discovered my glasses were on top of my head!!

And finally here is the little angel herself!!

And yes "The Princess Has Arrived," and has her wrapped around everyone's little finger!!