I love Google Reader.

I have a Google Reader addiction. If you don't use it, and you read a lot of websites, you should use it. Anyways, while going through all of the posts in my feed, I always star the ones I like, but I don't think I ever get back to them. I decided to change that today, and here are some things I found.

• I love these fabric stacking cups. I might have to make a set for O.
• This post makes me wish cooler kids clothes were easier to find, or I had more time to make some. Once a little boy turns 2, the clothes get insanely less adorable and more utilitarian, but not in a fashionable way. Or are covered in cartoon characters. It's sad.
• I love love love this kids room. I wish it were mine. I lam a big fan of the mid-century modern aesthetic. Such whimsy, but in a smart manner. And the miniature deer's head is amazing.
• Making t-shirt yarn. I have some fabulously coloured old t-shirts that would make great yarn for knitting up kitchen accoutrements.
• Aren't these cookies the most adorable cookies you've ever seen!??!
• Scans from an amazing Betty Crocker cookbook circa 1958 featuring the illustrations of Charley Harper.
• I need to make this for B and his forever-expanding car collection for when we are on-the-go. Maybe even in the next few days after I finish Owlie.
• Tori Spelling's nursery is awesome. The wall paper is brilliant.
• I think I need this book in my life.

I think the conclusion that can be drawn from these links is that I need/want to make more stuff, and I might like anything mid-century modern way too much.

Mmmmmmuffins

So even though we moved in November, there are still unpacked boxes. In my defense, they are all hidden from view in storage, and are mostly full of stuff that has no where to go right now. We got rid of our falling apart bookcases when we moved, so there are a lot of boxes of books waiting for a new home. And I have no where to put all of my art stuff right now, so that is all hidden away too. Every once in a while I need something I suspect might be in a box so I start searching though them and find other forgotten treasures. Yesterday, I don't even remember what I was looking for, but in a banana box in the corner of the storage room, I found my Baked cookbook. Which meant of course, being a sucker for antler motifs, I had to bake something.

I had been planning to make these Banana Crumb Muffins last night (Which are greatly improved with some extra cinnamon in the actual batter). I had made them a few weeks ago, and Ryan insisted I make them again, especially after the last time I told him I would make them and I made mini chocolate chip muffins instead. But having found my Baked cookbook, I decided to try the Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip muffins in the book, mostly because it was that or the Red Hot Velvet cake, and I could not think of a good reason to make that. Although when a good reason presents itself, I am all over that. And probably in cupcake form. If only easter were about cake and not Babkas.

So I set out to bake the muffins, and then quickly realized I had a few problems. First off, I only had one mushy banana, but the recipe called for four. So I quickly microwaved another one mushy, and decided to halve the recipe. Then I could not find any muffin tin liners. Seriously! I should have millions leftover from various cupcake baking expeditions. Where do they go? I just greased the pan, but really, I should have some. I bake a lot of cupcakes, and I always buy too many liners and put them aside for later. They are probably in an unpacked box in a storage room. Or B and the cat got to them. Finally, I realized we had no brown sugar, or even molasses so I could doctor some up. Oh well. I did have a jar of espresso powder for some reason though. So with all that in mind, I got to baking.

Before I popped the muffins in, I tasted the batter. Delicious. Although I think that the espresso flavour was a bit more pronounced before the baking, and I'd probably add a bit more if I make them again because it brought out the chocolate and made it taste so much more rich.The batter was not quite dense enough to support the chocolate chips either (and I used mini ones) so they kind of sunk a little, but it looks nice when you cut them open. They turned out really well despite my ill preparation. Fresh baked muffins for breakfast are delicious! And Ryan approved, even though they have chocolate bocolate in them.

After taking a break from doing much baking due to being too pregnant to move, and too busy with a new baby to breath, it's great to finally have some time. They say baking is a mood elevator, and I'd have to agree. And this week being Easter and all, I need to make some Babkas! Chocolate ones specifically. But more on that later this week.

Bye bye cable, hello pretty yarn.

We decided the other day to get rid of cable again. Ryan was working on our monthly budget, and I pointed out that he forgot the Shaw bill, and that made me realize that we should just get rid of it. We had only meant to have cable for a few months anyways, and then forgot to cancel it. Ryan had recently called Shaw to see if they would match MTS' current promotion by giving us a free PVR and some extra channels, which they did in order to keep us as customers. I was so excited to have a PVR again. Seriously. When I was in university, we drove down to Grand Forks just because Ryan decided that he wanted a TiVo. And me and that thing became BFFs. I always had something to watch (I'm one of those people who need the TV on when they do things), and not only did it record all of my favorite shows, but it recorded shows it thought I would like. And it made the cutest noises when I deleted things or skipped commercials. And the remote! With its thumbs up/down buttons! It was amazing. But then we got rid of cable, and with that TiVo. So when Shaw gave us a Pace Tahoe, to say I was excited would be an understatement (I am a TV addict!). And it sucks. And has really bad user architecture and seems fairly unintuitive.
(Sidenote: I heard the Mozilla guy on Spark today talking about how software should grow with the user, teaching it the skills needed to use it as they go along like a video game does and opening up as the user gains more skill. He went on to talk about how you don't need to read a manual for a video game, because you learn all the basics by playing the first level. I had never thought about it this way, but it's so true. More designers need to think like that.)
It just erases files or stops their recording for no good reason. It was really disappointing. Probably even more so after having a TiVo. Our first one was broken with the deleting problem so we returned it two days after getting it, only to get another one with the same problem. I called Shaw again, and they told me it's just an issue with the box that I'll have to deal with until a firmware upgrade happens. LAME. Not to mention our cable blips all the time which is just annoying. So instead of using something that just frustrates me a lot, I'll just go back to watching stuff online which works really well. Except that B's favorite shows, Team Umizoomi, and Fresh Beat Band are not really around yet as they are newer Nickelodeon shows, but he probably watches too much TV anyways.

I went grocery shopping yesterday. $108.96. Not bad! Especially since I spent 10 of that at Organza on blueberry perogies(!!!) and Veggie Booty for B. The greenness of them threw him off at first, but once I convinced him it was something tasty, he went nuts. They're like a healthier more natural corn puff coated in veggie powder. There is spinach and kale in the ingredients and he will eat it. It's a start. It's my goal to make O less of a picky eater than his big brother. See, I started out making all of B's baby food, with lentils and beans and real veggies and fruit of all kind, and applicable spices here and there. I bought Baby Cubes (which are really awesome) to put all the food in. But then our food processor broke, and I got lazy, and jarred mush it was. In my opinion, there are two kinds of mush: sweet mush and savory mush. It all just tastes like jars. But B loved it. And then came crackers and toast, and then when I was pregnant with O it was a lot of convenience stuff. It's not like he eats horrible though, he does get all his food groups in a day, but getting him to eat veggies is rough. Ryan even made these DELICIOUS Parmesan butternut squash noodles from Deceptively Delicious, but even that did not work. He is a smart cookie and fairly picky. I want to try making the pea mint popsicles in Toddler Cafe sometime soon, as he did like the pea pancakes a lot and loves popsicles. We have since gotten new parts for the processor, and little O is going to eat well when his time comes. And maybe if I try real hard, it will look this pretty.


After shopping, I went to Ram Wools. I got some beautiful yarn! I got a ball of Noro Silk Garden (my favorite!), and some black Lett Lopi to contrast it with to make some pretty mittens with. Well, I think all the yarns I got today are destined to be mittens. I also got a colourful skein of Mirasol Hacho, which is a beautiful hand dyed merino, as well as aubergine and pale blue balls of Sandnes Alpakka. So soft! I haven't been to Ram Wools since I lived with my mom. It was the only good place the 88 bus went other than to the 18 North Main. The new location is a lot brighter. It was so hard deciding which yarns to buy. They all felt so nice and were such pretty colours (although I did not find the perfect green I was looking for - I might have to make a Knitpicks order). And now between yarn for three pairs of mittens that I bought yesterday, and the yarn for the hoodie I bought last week, and the project I am currently working on, I'll be busy for a while.

Bunny!

Yesterday I decided to take a break from sweater knitting (although I did do the cuff for the second sleeve) and make a really quick instant gratification project. All that knit one row pearl the next was making me fuzzy. I decided to knit O a really soft little bunny out of some yarn I have probably had around for 6 or 7 years. A side note on that, I used to only buy one ball of a yarn I liked for some stupid reason, so I have a lot of single balls of really pretty yarn in a large bag. And interesting yarn being the way it is, most of the balls have something like 60 yards in them (and are discontinued) or something like that, which makes them too small to do much of anything with. Except make cute little animals.

I used this pattern, Anything Animals. It's a really simple and cute pattern, which knits up really quickly. I actually made another whole body before I did the bunny, with some Bernat Disco as the "head," but it was just way too fuzzy. I kind of want to knit a hockey fan with a mullet out of that one. Maybe next time I need a break from what seems like endless stockinette stitch. I used Patons Powder Puff for the body, which I kind wish I either had more of, or could easily buy more of as it would be perfect for a baby blanket or a really soft bear. Or to just hug straight on the ball. For the head I used Phildar Neige (which I can't find a good link for, but it's a fuzzy yarn, like stranded cotton balls, but replace the cotton with polyester), which was alright. It's just a little too fuzzy, but it works for a bunny. Like I said, the pattern was really easy, perhaps even too easy. I am sure I could have picked up stitches instead of knitting all of the limbs separately and stitching them on. That might have taken longer than the knitting itself. And made it look a little sloppier than I'd like, but that adds charm, right? I think I will use the pattern again though, with that stuff in mind, to knit up a cute little red headed girl doll like in the photos accompanying the instructions. And the aforementioned mullet-ed hockey fan. Think of all of the imaginative stories a kid should be able to come up with using a cast of characters like that. I think I have a project for this next week. That and finishing the sweater hopefully.

Tomorrow I hope to go to Ram Wools and pick up some nice yarn (I am on a hunt for the perfect bright green, as well as a good cyan/red combination) and some size 1 double pointed needles for future mitten making. We'll see after I go grocery shopping. My $99.06 grocery shop was a success (except we ran out of margarine, which was my fault - I made muffins), so we will see how tomorrow goes. I just have to finalize my list. And stay out of the Joe Fresh section.

I am vacuuming while writing this.

I can't say enough how much I love the Roomba. It's vacuuming for me right now while I eat lunch and type this. Pretty sweet. I have only pulled out the real vacuum once since we got the Roomba.The boys are both asleep, B just went down for a nap and O is due to wake up at any moment, and I am enjoying soup and Jello. Like an old lady.

I finally went to Chatters the other day and got some new nail polishes. I finally found OPI My Private Jet. I have been looking for this one for a while. Not only did I find it, but I found the original holographic version. They have come out with a new version since, and it is not as pretty, as I loooove the holographic glitter. This is probably not very exciting to anyone else. Ha. I also picked up OPI DS Divine. Best part was that all the DS polishes were on sale. It was a good shopping trip. We also went to the Chapters next door, and B looked at books. Well, rather he played with "Thompsy" and then looked at books once he realized they had Cars: The Movie books. I of course fawned over all of the beautifully illustrated children's books, and B picks a Cars book. That's how it goes. It's a start. I'll get him hooked on mid-century modern inspired illustration yet!What I really don't understand is why does B get so excited about the Thomas table when he has one at home.

B's cars book came with stickers inside, so yesterday we set out to make our own book. I folded up some construction paper and got out some crayons. What resulted was "Lightning McQueen Drives." B put stickers down and made me draw roads for them and then filled in some more colour. I would then ask him what was going on, and write it down. It was fun, and B seemed really proud of it.

I finished the first sleeve on the sweater, now for the second. Ugh, sleeves. It just feels like I should be on to something more exciting already! I am going to try to finish the second sleeve as quick as possible. I am getting ansty about moving on to other projects already! And I found out Ram Wools is having a 25% off sale, and I really really want to go. I should probably add another really in there. I think this year I am going to make more Christmas presents. I know it is early to think about Christmas, but when you are making things, it is best to start as soon as possible. I always want to make Christmas presents, but I always feel that whatever I make won't be good enough. But then I realized I make good stuff. Seriously I have way to high expectations of myself to let myself make something I can't do really well. Or let myself do something sub-par. So yeah, we'll see how that goes. I mean, we live in Manitoba. Everyone needs mittens. Ask me in November how much I have done. Ha.

I keep thinking it's Thursday or Friday

Today I broke out the new art stuff and B and I went crazy with the foam stickers and googly eyes while O slept after lunch. And the glitter glue! Kids art supplies are the best. Tomorrow I think I will break out the safety scissors. Which were really really hard to find, and in the end, I could only find the zig zaggy kind like scrapbookers use. O still sleeps enough that I get a fair bit of uninterrupted time with B, although that is slowly changing.

I went grocery shopping on Sunday, and somehow, the total was $99.06, which is significantly less than usual. It might be because I went through the flyer (or circular, as Ryan informs me most people call them outside of Winnipeg, although I am not so sure), and made a very detailed list and made a meal plan to go with it. And I stuck to it.We'll see how we are still doing on Friday. Which I keep thinking it is and am sorely disappointed. Ryan went back to work full time today, which means even less sleep and longer days.

B had his first dentist appointment today. He has a pretty bad looking chip in his front tooth, so I made Ryan call up the dentist and take him. I am too scared of the dentist. There was a dentist in the strip mall in front of our old place, and sometimes they would open the door for fresh air, and just the smell would make me panic. So anyways, B went to one of those kids dentist places, and he had a good time playing, and seemed to have a really good experience, which is important to me. And the chip is not worth fixing, and all of his other teeth are just fine.

I finished the main body on the sweater I am knitting for O, now for the sleeves. Sleeves always feel like such a chore after the main body. I just want to finish this sweater so I can move on to the next! And some other projects. And I really need to get back into taking more photographs. I really really want to create a documentary work, but I just can't figure out what exactly to document. I explored a few ideas while in school, but they never quite seemed right to me. I guess this is something I will have to really think about. I should probably start by revisiting some old ideas and figure out what is going on there. I think I have about 100 rolls of film in a binder, I started scanning them recently with a film scanner, but got distracted by the littlest one. I find that I get so caught up in the theory of taking photographs that it makes me too self conscious and aware of my intentions and their effects to make anything proper. These are things I could go on about, but would make me seem too crazy-nuts.

I finally caved and bought a mint green nail polish. I shouldn't have. It's streaky and makes my hands look like hospital walls. I don't need to be wearing anything that enhances my pale skin. But I read that there are more Revlon scented nail colours. I bought one of the fruity ones in the fall, and I must have looked crazy sniffing my nails. Spring pastels just do not work for me, bring on the summer brights! I love bright purples and fuchsias!

On living in a toy box.

I spend a lot of time in our living room. When I say a lot, I really mean it. This is mostly due to O being so teeny tiny and liking to be awake at strange hours on top of having to be awake all day. Our living room, or rather I should say, living area, is very large, and loosly sectioned off into three areas. In one area, a little nook, is the tv, coffee table, and couch. Adjacent to this is the kid area, probably the largest of the three, and the most infectious, spreading toy cars all over the place. The third is the dining area. One of my biggest pet peeves in our place is that the dining area is carpeted. This sucks with kids. It sucks a little less after buying Ryan a Roomba for Christmas. It's like a robot dog that does not get sick (This is a cool guide to Roomba "songs". And it actually works pretty well! B was just warming up to the Roomba after being scared of the vacuum for a long time, when I stupidly brought out the big clunky one, and now we are back at square one and cleaning up is a lot harder. But I digress. The part of this whole paragraph relevant to the rest of this blog post is the second part of the room, the play area.

The play area drives me bonkers! Because it is such an open area in a main part of our home, I want to keep it clean and organized, which feels like a losing battle. It just feels like there is too much! I put a bunch of toys in storage now, especialy ones that B is too old for and O is too young for, but it was not enough. I really really need to come up with a storage solution that looks a lot neater. I have been wanting this Ikea bookshelf for ever, but I just cannot justify the Ikea shipping. The Trofast system would also be perfect in that area. A lot of things would probably be better than the mishmash of storage I have right now. I wish I could find rolling boxes for under the Thomas table. I like that table, it seems like the perfect height and size for all of B's car and train play. The play area feels like a work in progress, but I just want it to look better! Maybe that will be my next weekend project.

Most importantly, I have to try not to buy anymore toys! It's easier said than done though. Looking at toy cars has become a part of our trips to the mall or Walmart. And B has a face that is hard to say no to, and I like looking at Hot Wheels with him and trying to find the coolest car. I will say that yesterday we went to both a toy store and Walmart, and left without anything or a fuss, so it can be done. I did get some art supplies, but those don't count, they are more of a consumable product anyways, and they get stored elsewhere. So Ryan and I have declared that we will not buy anymore toys until Christmas. And then it will be good quality stuff, like one or two Plan Toys play sets instead of a lot of smaller stuff.

B is getting back into books. I think this was spurred by our new nightime routine, in which he gets to pick out any book he wants, and then I read that and two more while he sits in bed right before I turn out the lights. He is really into Bernstein Bear books right now, us having inherited Ryan's childhood collection. The last book is always I'm Not Scared, about a little owl out in the woods with his stuffed Owlie, whom he claims is the one who is really scared of the dark. It's a cute book for a little guy just realizing he might be scared of the dark. Later today, time granting, I am going to sew B a toy Owlie so he has a friend in the dark, I think he'd really like it

My favorite moment of the week was right before I put B to bed last night. He had found my childhood Care Bear (Bedtime Bear) that I slept with every night until I was far to old. B got the same one (but modernized) for his first Christmas, and he sleeps with it every night. When he found mine, he got really excited. He told me they were the same, and showed me all of the things they had in common, like noses, tails, hearts and hair. He then sat them on the bed to read stories with us (and he made sure they saw every page) and then fell asleep with both of them. It was precious.