All the way from Seattle

T collects postcards. She has some from all over the world. My friend picked one up when he went to Amsterdam, we have some from our trip to visit Dad in San Francisco when T was a baby.
Last week we got some from a friend stationed in the Antarctic!!

I posted this to reddit and ended up chatting back and forth with someone from Seattle. They offered to send her a postcard from Seattle. It arrived today, but it was more than just a post card. T was very excited to put on her new hat. Go Seahawks! (I find this particularly amusing since J is an avid Jets fan)

Sometimes they just pass out...

This afternoon D passed out. She hasn't been feeling well at all. Browsing through old photos I came across this gem. I think it shows perfectly what life is like with a toddler. Chaos, cuteness and exhaustion.

Kissing Booth Photoshoot

 

Last night we went out to celebrate my birthday with J's dad. He got me the Alien Bees B800. 

As soon as we got home I asked the girls to sit for me. I did some basic playing around. Trillian had so much fun she asked if we could do it again tomorrow. So this morning we took her puppet show theatre and turned it into a kissing booth.

One of the first shots I took with the B800. Very Flashy but I'll get the hang of it.

It was a lot of fun. She even had a blast pretending to be bored. I think we have a budding actress.

So convincingly bored.

It's here! Ottobre Jan 2014!!

I have longed for a subscription to the Finnish sewing magazine, Ottobre, for a few years now. They put out 4 issues each year full of kids clothes patterns, plus 2 more of adult women's patterns. I have an issue from 2010 and an issue from 2012. Finally this year I decided I would get myself a subscription. I'm so happy with it! They have patterns for very wearable clothes from infant to teen sizes. The sizing is different from what I'm used to here in North America, but there are two sizing charts, one in metric and one in imperial, so figuring out what size to make is easy.

They have all the patterns in the issue summarized on two pages right before the instructions to sew. The patterns are all printed on pages that come out of the center. You have to trace them onto other paper to use them, so I have envelopes of patterns I've traced from the other issues I have all over my sewing room. Which one would you start with??

I think this top is what I'm going to make first from this issue. It's a sweet batwing sleeved top with a ribbon embellishment down the sleeve. I can totally see T in it. I hope she agrees!

DIY Cinnamon Oatmeal Milk Bath

One of my recent trips to Mom's I snagged her copy of Homemade: A Surprisingly Easy Guide to Making Hundreds of Everyday Products You Would Otherwise Buy. It has recipes for everything from cakes to cleaning solutions. I've been ogling the bath and beauty stuff. I wanted to make the Cinnamon Oatmeal Milk Bath but only ever thought of it when I was already having a bath. A couple nights ago I decided to make it with the girls. Once we put it in the tub they weren't interested in trying it, so I got a nice soak in the middle of the evening before they went to bed.

The recipe was fairly simple to make. The girls were able to help with everything except turning the oatmeal into powder. The only down side was the sediment at the bottom of the tub, but I suspect I didn't grind the oatmeal fine enough.

Cinnamon Oatmeal Milk Bath
(From Reader's Digest Homemade)

1 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup oatmeal
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Put oatmeal in a small food processor or the blender and pulverize it into a powder. Mix it in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Transfer into a clean, tightly covered, moisture-proof container, where it will keep indefinitely.
Add about 1/2 cup of the Cinnamon Oatmeal Milk Bath to a full tub of warm water and enjoy the soak.

Creating Sisterhood

Hello, I'm Kathy, the eldest of ... well I suppose that depends on how you look at it. Currently, factoring in step siblings and in-laws I'm the oldest of 9... (more if we start counting step-in-laws but I had to choose somewhere to draw the line)
Growing up I was the oldest of three kids. Jeremy was two years younger than me, Laura a year younger than him.

That's me in the middle!

Flash forward a couple decades after that picture was taken and our family expanded when Mom remarried. Sarah and her brother and sisters joined our family as well.

Big family -including the kiddos!

Then a year ago our family grew even more when Jeremy got married! Melissa and I have rapidly discovered common interests and the couple of weeks we've spent together in person has not been nearly enough.

Aren't they a cute couple?

We are quite spread out across Canada and the US. Fortunately we did get some time together over the Holidays this year. Melissa and Jere flew to New Jersey and then we all piled into the van and drove to Ottawa on Christmas Eve.

I need to convince Melissa to move closer to our cluster in the East.

Which brings me to the point of this blog. I wanted to find a way to foster our sisterhood, despite the distance. This is a place for us to gather and to collect our recipes and crafts, share our triumphs, support each other's trials...
Welcome to our sisterhood!

-Kathy