Crafty Wednesday

My little princess loves everything pink, purple and all things pretty. She also loves dirt, bugs, snails and has three pet rocks. When I came upon this craft the other day I thought she'd like it. Not only was it quite an easy and fun one to do, I also had the supplies on hand. I'm trying to use up what I have before buying more. Well, I think we've done that with some of our things so I told Charlotte today that on Friday we'll replenish our supplies. I have a number of spring type crafts coming up that I thing she'll really like.

Today, we made little bugs. They're made out of egg cartons, pipe cleaner, pom-poms and google eyes. While I didn't have actual pom-poms, I used some cotton balls and the effect worked for what they were. In hindsight, we could have painted the cotton balls different colours too.


First, we painted the egg cups as per Charlotte's colour choices. After we let them dry, we added the legs and wings and then the heads and eyes and they were ready. 

Did Charlotte play with them? Of course, we both did! We played hide and seek and well, they hid while we took turns looking for them. Hide and seek with a three year old.... VERY interesting!

The whole family

The webcam - Bringing our family closer together

Growing up with grandparents on the other side of the province and across the pond in England meant we didn't get to see them very often. We saw my Nan and Pop maybe a couple of times a year at most and my grandparents, well, maybe three or four times. That I remember anyway. As a result, we didn't really know them. We knew my Nan and Pop, but my Grandma and Grandpy, not really. When we did see them, it would take a little time to warm up to them before we felt comfortable. Only normal for a young person.


Charlotte & Harrison are lucky. They get to see all their grandparents at least twice each month. Their Nana and Poppy live in CBS, their Grand Dad and Mel in St. John's and their Nana and Grampsy in England. Wait, you say, Nana and Grampsy are in England? How do they see them every couple of weeks? Well, we use the webcam.

Talking to Nana and Grampsy

The webcam is an amazing thing. It brings families that are thousands of miles apart closer together. When we speak to Andrew's Mum and Stepdad, it's as if they're in the same room. We both have laptops, so we carry them around, showing Charlotte and Harrison in different situations around the house and they do the same. They get a cup of tea while chatting and show us the sun that's shining warmly and brightly on the 26th of February.

Nana

Charlotte has been speaking to Nana and Grampsy on the webcam since she was born. When she was a babe she'd just sit there but once she was old enough to recognize faces, she'd smile and laugh. Then, once she stared to talk, well, there was no stopping her. Sometimes she just sits there, other times she plays in the background, just listening to the conversation (much like her Mom) and then there are days like today where she takes over the webcam and Daddy can't get a word in edgewise.

Charlotte reading a book to Nana & Grampsy

Does it really make a difference? You bet. When we went to England when Charlotte was 2 years old, she ran to Nana and gave her a huge hug when we came out of customs at the airport. No child would do that to someone she'd only spoken to on the phone or seen pictures of. The fact we spoke to them right up until the weekend before we came over made a huge difference. There was no getting to know you time. She already knew her Nana and Grampsy.

Chatting with Grampsy

Andrew's Mum and his Nan are coming to visit in June. We're very excited. We've already told Charlotte and when we talk to them on the webcam we talk about the visit. I am sure as the time gets closer she'll get more excited and we'll be at the airport when the plane arrives and she'll be the first one to give Nana a hug.

Charlotte the Hairstylist

Today, Charlotte, Harrison and I went to the hairstylists. Charlotte's been going there since she was born. Not as a client, but with me when I went to get my natural hair colour enhanced (ie dyed) and cut. Right from the beginning, Loretta and the girls at the salon treated Charlotte like one of the girls. They talked to her, played with her so Mommy could have a relaxing couple of hours and made her feel at home. 

When it came for her to have her first hair cut at the ripe ol' age of 20 months, it didn't phase her at all. Instead, she sat on my lap and had a great time.

Charlotte and Loretta

She regularly got her hair cut over the first couple of years and now, she gets her bangs cut every time I go. She looks forward to not only getting her hair cut but also playing with the "dolls" as she calls them. These mannequin heads have real hair and Charlotte loves to brush the hair, spray it with water, put it in rollers, and then put them under the dryer to dry. Whenever she needs something, she just asks one of the girls and they quickly oblige.

To say the salon is a huge part of her childhood is an understatement. It's in the same mall as Andrew's work and when we go to pick him up, Loretta always calls out to her to say hello and introduce her to her clients. Charlotte loves the attention, she loves Loretta. 

Loretta giving a helping hand

Harrison too has been going since he as born. As it's only been 6 months, he's still too young to appreciate all the attention, but if he's anything like his sister he too will be the centre of attention when he's about. He probably won't be interested in the mannequins (or maybe he will be) but there's always the bin of toys to play with too. Plus the pretty ladies of course. He already has their attention.

Bath Time Thursday

Harrison and Charlotte usually have their bath together but in separate baths. Charlotte is in the main bath and Harrison is next to it in the baby bath. Well, today I came across the bath seat we had when Charlotte was a babe. I had totally forgotten about it. Tonight we put it to use and Charlotte and Harrison had their first bath together in the same bath.


Charlotte was very excited to have Harrison in the bath with her. We'll see how long that lasts. She helped wash his hair and face, read him his bath book, showed him the boat and introduced him to Arial. When he became too friendly with Arial, she put an end to that. All in all though, I would say it was a great success.

1st bath together

"Harrison, this is Arial"

" Well, hello Arial"

"I'll have her back now"

Washing time

Just hanging out

Crafty Wednesday

This morning we went to our weekly story time at the library. The theme this week was getting dressed to play outside during the winter. Dressing up nice and warm to play outside. Snow angels, sliding, snowshoeing, skating and of course, building a snowman.


I decided today's craft would continue with the theme so we made ourselves a snowman. As an added bonus, I had everything in the house to make this little guy. Charlotte was able to do most of it herself which was nice. I did make the pom poms for the earmuffs and put those together, but other than that she did most of it on her own.


To make our snowman we needed two paper plates, some orange construction paper, pipe cleaner, buttons, pom poms (I didn't have any so I made them from some yarn I had around the house) and white paper clips.

Getting ready

We used the white paper clip to keep the two plates together to make the snowman.

Gluing on the eyes

Adding the buttons

I put a hole in each side of the snowman's head and attached the pom poms. I then threaded the red pipe cleaner on either side to finish off the ear muffs. Using the brown pipe cleaner, I made the arms and hands.

Don't forget the nose

The snowman's smile.... and teeth!

Ta-da!

I think next week we'll leave the winter theme and start looking to the spring and upcoming holidays for inspiration.

Pancake Tuesday

Today, Pancake Tuesday, we (sans Andrew who was under the weather) went to my Mom and Dad's for our annual pancake supper. We've been going there every year since we moved back home. I look forward to it every year. Not only for the time we spend with family, but the fun of picking our pancakes and seeing what we get in them. Yes, Mom still puts the little treasures in the pancakes for us. There were buttons (gonna be a seamstress/tailor), rings (getting married), hairpins (gonna be a hairdresser) and of course, money (gonna be rich). When we first moved back it was just Andrew, myself and my brother who went to Mom and Dad's. Mom would still put the money in and of course, all of us, adults (really too big to be doing so), got very excited when we got the money. At least I did. Tim's coffee the next day was my goal. Now, there are the aforementioned crew, Stacey (Darrell's girlfriend), and two little ones. Charlotte and Harrison. 

Toppings for the pancakes.

 This year, Charlotte was very excited about the pancakes. She helped Nana put the little surprises in the pancakes and then couldn't wait for the finished product.

"Which one is mine?"

Mmmmm good!

Charlotte managed to eat 2 and along with Nana and Poppy's money, she came home with $2.50 for her piggy bank. 

Looks like a quarter!

Harrison came home with $3.00. Not bad for someone who didn't eat any, although he did try. 

No pancake was eaten in the taking of this picture

Harrison's Toonie. After the cupcake incident, I held on very tight while taking this picture.

Darrell, he got $4.00 and me, I got $2.00 (and a ring). I know, I should have given the money to the kids, but I just couldn't part with it. And it was a toonie, I couldn't split it between the two kids. Yeah, that's a good reason. Actually, I used that $2.00 towards deep water fitness tonight which, after those pancakes, was very painful. 


So, it was another great Pancake Tuesday. Charlotte and Harrison came home and put their money in their piggy banks. We all had fun and look forward to next year. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Funny Thursday

Today my brother and his girlfriend came for lunch. We had a great couple of hours catching up and chatting about all things. Of course, the stories eventually came around to little Miss Charlotte and my brother said I should definitely share this one with you all. 

As I've mentioned in a previous post, Harrison sucks on his two fingers for comfort. When he's tired, in they go. When he's settling down for a nap he can be crying a little and he gets those two fingers in his mouth and all is silent. When he's eating, between mouthfuls, the fingers are in there. I think part of it is also due to teething. I think the pressure that the two fingers put on his gums help him.

When he was younger than his six months, Harrison didn't like the car seat. He'd cry most of the time unless the car was moving or he had a pacifier. He still doesn't really like the car, but he's a lot better. He only cries now if he's very tired or hungry. He doesn't use the pacifier anymore so, instead he uses his fingers. Most of the time he doesn't cry because he can just put his fingers in whenever he wants. He has a built in pacifier. Sometimes though, if he's very tired, he needs a little encouragement. Unless Andrew is in the car, that encouragement comes down to me who is driving or Charlotte who is in her own car seat on the other side of the car. So, we turn to words. "Find your fingers Harrison" or "Suck your fingers Harrison" are two phrases we use. Believe it or not, it works. Just today on my way to pick up Charlotte, Harrison was crying. As I can't do anything while driving I said "Find your fingers Harrison" and he did.


Charlotte doesn't like to hear Harrison cry. Most children don't like to hear other children cry. Even babies don't like it when other babies cry. They get upset too. When he was younger, she just put her hands over her ears. While she sometimes does that too, she has found another way to do so. She copies her Mom. Problem is, she has difficulty with the letter 's'. In most instances, she says the words correctly. Sugar, Sally, Sammy the Sea Lion, no problem. The word Suck, however? Huge problem. 


We were in the bathroom cleaning her teeth the other night and we were discussing her thumb sucking situation. We're working on curbing that habit and trying, for now, to limit it to the night time or unless she's super tired. We were chatting about it and she declared "The dentist said I can F@@k my thumb". Well, to say I was knocked over is an understatement. Of course, before I ran for the soap, I asked her what she said. She repeated it but I realized that it was her attempt at suck. So, I repeated the word for her. "It's ssssss, suck Charlotte". She repeated it perfectly. But, she has to really concentrate. I mentioned it to my friend when she was over for supper one night. She's a Speech Therapist. She said it's perfectly normal. The "F" and the "S" are formed in the same way. 


Normal? Maybe. Embarrassing if we're in the middle of a shop and she tells Harrison to suck his fingers using the letter "f" instead? You betcha! Hopefully no one will notice. Yeah, right. 


So, when we're in the car and Harrison starts to cry, Charlotte usually is the one who responds first. She tells him to suck his fingers in her own way and I then help her with her pronounciation. In the meantime, I now tell Harrison to find his fingers in hopes she'll start saying that too. If not, it'll probably make for an embarrassing moment for Mommy (probably not the first).

Crafty Wednesday - Mr Sun

I often think Charlotte is going to be a meteorologist when she grows up. She's fascinated by the weather. Yesterday, while I was still in bed, Charlotte came in to tell me it was snowing. 


Well, this morning, while having breakfast, the sun was shining in such a way it was a beautiful golden ball of light. We chatted for a couple of minutes, discussing the sun and then we went onto what we had planned for today. I asked her if there was anything in particular she'd like to do for her craft. She said she'd like to do a sun. I suggested maybe updating her Valentine's Day mobile into a spring themed one with a sun, flowers, birds. Nope, she just wanted the sun.


So, I went online to see if there were any interesting ideas for a sun craft besides just painting a sun. I found one that involved hand prints. I figured Charlotte would like this as she really enjoyed the snowman one we did a couple of weeks ago. So, when I showed her, she jumped up and away we went. The thing I like about this craft is that she did it all herself. She even traced a circle on the paper and cut it out (although she used mine instead). The only thing I did was cut out the hand prints and tape them to her sun.


We cut out the sun's face from yellow paper. Charlotte then painted her hands and we pressed them on orange paper. The directions call for poster paint and as we didn't have any of that we didn't get the exact look we wanted but it's still pretty good.

While they were drying she painted the sun's face. Her sun is a special one and has hair (like Rapunzel) and buttons.

Once the hands are dry, cut them out and attach to the sun.

Charlotte hasn't decided where she wants to hang it yet. I think it'll look nice in her bedroom.

Valentine's Day

Andrew and I have never been ones to celebrate Valentine's Day. We usually celebrate the Anniversary of our first date instead which is February 1st. Alas, this year, even that went by without celebration. I guess that's what happens when you have two young children. Or, maybe that's just an excuse and I'm failing in my New Year's promise to spend more quality time with my hubby. So, we're going to work on that.


Back to Valentine's Day though. Since having Charlotte, we've started doing a little something special for this special day dedicated to love. I decided for tonight I'd make Andrew's favourite meal (Shepherd's Pie) and have a dessert they'd both like (cupcakes). As I made cupcakes on the weekend for Harrison's 6 month birthday, I had some left over as the recipe makes a lot. So, a little frosting and some pink and purple sprinkles later, we had dessert.


I had to bring the new vehicle in today to get some accessories put on. I made the Shepherd's pie yesterday and all I had to do was frost the cupcakes today. As Charlotte was at school celebrating Valentine's Day with her friends, Harrison and I went to Mom & Dad's while we waited for the car. Well, to make a long story short, the car took a lot longer than I was told and Mom & Dad had to take us back home, do some errands and then pick me up again to get the car. While that was unexpected, so was supper. For them that is. As they ended up in town later than expected, I invited them back to the house for supper.


Charlotte was very excited when I picked her up sans Harrison and explained that he was with Nana and Poppy at our house. She was even more excited when she got home, showed Nana all her Valentines and then saw the table, decorated in red and white with candles, red hearts and pink and red chocolates. (Insert photo here - if I had remembered to take one :( )


After supper, we had said cupcakes. They were Red Velvet with Buttercream Frosting. Very good if I may say so myself.


Insert photo here

Charlotte in her Heart dress that Auntie Mary gave her. No dress could have been more perfect today!

Red Velvet cupcake with Buttercream frosting and sprinkles

So, although it wasn't the typical Valentine's Day celebration, it was just perfect for us and we had a wonderful time. I hope you enjoyed your day, whatever you did.


Here is the recipe for Red Velvet cupcakes. I found it from a link on allrecipes.com. The blogger modified the recipe and got the following. They really are lovely moist cupcakes. Although most people put cream cheese frosting on these, Andrew's not a fan so we go for Buttercream.


Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe

Makes 24 large, or 30 medium cupcakes

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (or milk with 2 teaspoons lemon juice)
• 1 ounce red food coloring
• 4 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Spoon batter into 24 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.
3. Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Gently remove from oven (these are super-moist, and will collapse if you aren’t careful). Cool in pans on wire rack at least 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely. Frost

Buttercream Frosting (if you want the cream cheese recipe, click here)
I've tried a number of different recipes over the years including the one on the Wilton site. I found a lot of them very sweet. While this one is sweet (how can it not be with all the icing sugar) it just tastes differently. The recipe is from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.  The Hummingbird Bakery is a bakery in London. While I've never been, I certainly will the next time we go to England. Their frosting is made differently than other recipes I've come across. You mix the butter and icing sugar together straight away rather than creaming the butter first. You also beat the frosting for at least 5 mins once milk is added. It just makes a light and fluffy frosting.


As my friend got me this cookbook from England, the quantities are in imperial measurements. 


Buttercream Frosting 
(this makes enough for 12 cupcakes. Double for 24)
250g icing sugar, sifted
80g butter at room temperature
25ml whole milk
a couple of drops of vanilla extract


Beat the icing sugar and butter together on medium-slow speed until it is well blended (this takes some time). Combine milk and vanilla extract in a separate bowl and add a couple of spoonfuls at a time. If the desired consistency is not achieved, add a little more milk, one spoonful at a time. Once all milk has been incorporated, turn mixer on high and beat for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. 


Frost those cupcakes and enjoy!

Harrison is Six Months Old Today!

6 months. Wow. I've said it before, I'll say it again. Man, the time is flying by. I can't believe Harrison is 6 months old already.


It's been a great 6 months. Harrison is such a good little boy. He makes us smile and melts our hearts each and every day. Charlotte loves her little brother so much and whenever he starts to cry, whether it be because he's tired, hungry or just wants a change in scenery, she runs to him and makes him smile. She's very good in entertaining him and well, he adores her. As soon as he hears her voice, he looks for her. Then, he gives the biggest smile.

6 months old today!

Harrison changes daily. His favourite thing is the jolly jumper. He'll spend a lot of time in it jumping around. He loves it when Charlotte comes over and plays with him while he's in it. He laughs and laughs and laughs. Bath time is always fun as his second favourite thing to do is get naked! He sucks on his two fingers constantly. At first, I thought it was because he's teething (no teeth yet), but I think it's more than that. It's his comfort thing. When he's tired, or even not, in go the fingers and it's all good. When we're in the car and he starts to get unsettled, we tell him to find his fingers and well, he does and all is well. Hopefully he'll grow out of it but for now, he's a happy baby and that's what's important.


We started Harrison on baby cereal about 3 weeks ago. He started waking up a couple times in the night and milk just didn't seem to be cutting it. He lapped it up. We've been through all the different types and he's liked them all. Well, yesterday he had his first taste of real food. Like Charlotte, his first food was carrot. He loved it. Nana and Poppy were over for supper and so Nana fed him his first real meal.

Note the carrot on the fingers. After every mouthful, in go the fingers.

What does every 6 month old need? Yup, you guessed it. Monster cupcakes. Now, before anyone worries that I'm feeding my child sugar, I'm not. Well, at least I didn't mean to. That child is really strong and determined. Much like his Mom. :) I wanted to mark his six months with a cupcake, much like I did Charlotte and I thought that a little monster would be great for my little monster. The colour? Well, Charlotte chose that. Yup, you guessed it. Pink. So, we made them Valentine Cupcakes.

This was just supposed to be a picture of Harrison looking at the cupcake.
He caught poppy by surprise and pulled it to his mouth. The rest was history.

All in all, Harrison has had a wonderful first 6 months. Hopefully, the next 6 months will go more slowly. Either way, we'll enjoy every minute. Before we know it though, we'll be celebrating his 1st birthday. Now that's going to be a great day. Here's to all the ones in between.


Love you babes!

Lady Charlotte

On Sunday night, we read Charlotte a Franklin story. For those of you who don't know, Franklin is a turtle who is five years old. There is a collection of stories about his adventures with his friends and family. The story we read Charlotte on Sunday night was about Franklin's messy room and how, because of all the mess, he couldn't find his sword. Well, by the end of the story, Franklin's room was clean and he had made a brand new sword (he broke his other one when he stepped on it because of all the mess). 


While I tried to spin the "that's why you should keep your room clean" angle, Charlotte went with the "I'd like a sword" angle. So, as it was bedtime, we told her we'd make her a sword in the morning.


Monday morning came and Andrew was off as he had worked Saturday (or would have if we hadn't had the snowstorm). We had forgotten about the sword, but Charlotte, well, she's like an elephant. She never forgets.


She mentioned it at breakfast and well, we got the supplies together and Daddy and Charlotte made her sword and shield. When hers was done, she requested that he make one for himself too. He did and once they were dry, a duel commenced between Lady Charlotte and Knight Daddy.


One of the things I love about Charlotte is that although she's as girly girl as you can get (she always wears dresses and loves to dance and dress up), she also loves bugs, dirt and playing rough and tumble. While she wanted to have a sword and shield, she also made sure she looked good while in battle and put on her princess dress. See, she likes the best of both worlds.

Crafty Wednesday - Butterfly Valentine's Day Cards

Today was a busy one. Well, I find all Wednesdays with Charlotte are busy. But that's why I created Craft Wednesdays! Yay!

Anyway, this morning started with story time at the library. It was the first one of a 6 week session and the first that we've been to. There were kids from 5.5 months (Harrison) to 5 years.  We all sat on little mats on the floor while we listened to stories and rhymes. Charlotte had a great time listening to all the stories about snowmen (the theme for today) and participated with gusto. Harrison, he enjoyed his name tag and all the other little faces around him.

Story time, a baked batch of muffins and lunch later, we started in on making Charlotte's Valentines for her friends at school. A couple of weeks ago I found a cute idea on Pinterest. Upon further investigation, I found another cute idea on a blog called Skip to My Lou that I knew Charlotte would love. Well, let's just say it's been difficult trying to convince her to wait until now to make them. We got the lolly pops on Friday and the eyes this morning and well, we were ready to go.

While there were things I had to do myself, like printing and cutting out the butterflies and cutting the slits, Charlotte was able to do the rest. She also helped me in writing out the names (or telling me all the names) and of course decided what glitter each person would have.

The nice thing about this craft was that the blog actually had a template I could print out. As I had so many to make, it was a great saving tool. I just printed out the number I needed and away we went.

Once they were cut out and named, we added the glitter.

While the glitter was drying, we added the eyes to the lolly pops.

Some of the butterflies drying.

Once everything was dry, it was time to put them together.

Charlotte is very excited and looking forward to giving them to her friends on Valentine's Day. Hopefully they'll like them as much as we enjoyed making them.