Itty bitty buns

When I asked Abner how she wanted me to do her hair the other day, she said, "In knots." Not one to deny my child her wishes, I obliged.

So cute! She loves having the little knots on her head until a) she has to get in her car seat, or b) she has to take a nap.

A blast from the past

We've lived in Burnaby for ages and had never been to the Burnaby Village Museum or the adjoining carousel before last week. Consider this post a rousing endorsement for both!

Let me list the ways in which the carousel is awesome:

1. We were the only ones on it.
2. The ride is accompanied by a Wurlitzer Military Band Organ, which sounds like an entire band coming out of a single player!
3. It goes really, really fast. When they tell you to hold on with two hands, they mean it.
4. It was spared from destruction by amazing volunteers who've restored it to incredible beauty.
5. Once it was restored, the city of Vancouver had a chance to have it for $1...they turned it down.
6. The look on Abner's face once we started turning was priceless...sheer joy.

Abner chose to ride horse #8, Treasure. The ride operator commented that it was rare for a little girl not to choose the frilly pink and purple horses - that's my girl!

The whole museum was awesome with lots to see and do for all ages. We all agreed the tram was our favourite, but I also enjoyed the homemade butter samples at one of the houses! I'm actually thinking of trying my hand at making some of my own, but I'll go for an electric mixer (12 minutes) instead of the hand-cranked, glass churn jar (over half and hour!).

If you're tired of hearing your kids whine about how bored they are with all of their toys or that they don't want to do any chores, this is the perfect place to show them just how easy they have it these days. The museum interpreters are happy to tell stories of Burnaby in the 1920s and how kids often had to entertain themselves with nothing but a glass jar and a few clothes pegs...after they'd swept the entire house, hung the laundry, made their beds, helped in the garden and finished their homework, of course.

She finally touched a goat!

One of the stops we made recently on the staycation portion of our holidays was the Greater Vancouver Zoo. TDSH and I had been before so we knew what we were in for, but WOW...let's just say, I don't think that place will be up for any Zoo of the Year awards. Abner seemed to like it though and it was a nice thing to do on an overcast day.

I will forever remember this visit as the first time she touched a goat. It sounds stupid, but you need to understand, we've seen many, many, many goats in Abner's short life and she's always absolutely refused to touch them. Until now. She finally touched a goat...with one finger. Whatever. It's progress.

She loved playing tour guide with the map.

The giraffes were a hit, though I must say, they are way more impressive in the wild. There's only one thing more awkward looking than a giraffe running - a giraffe drinking water. Trust me. It's funny, funny stuff.

The rest of the animals were neat and we all enjoyed the train ride around the grounds. I also picked up some early Christmas presents for Abner in the gift shop. She is obsessed with puzzles these days and the zoo had some awesome board puzzles that look like they'll be a challenge for her (at least for a little while).

I'll leave you with this parting shot of a flamingo standing on one leg...or is that the Karate Kid?

Just peachy...with Amaretto!

Peaches and amaretto. Each beautiful in its own right, but mind-blowingly amazing when paired together on a BBQ. We discovered these little gems last summer and have been looking forward to peach season ever since.

If you'd like to make them yourself, you'll find the recipe here. Enjoy!

Aquarium, meet your newest members!

We enjoyed a bit of a staycation recently, taking in many of the local attractions we usually balk at paying highway robbery prices for (or perhaps the prices are reasonable and we're just cheap?)

One of the first on our list was the Vancouver Aquarium. It is a fabulous spot for young kids. If you're not a member, get there right at opening to avoid the massive line ups (we were literally the first in line the day we went!) Cheap though I may be, even I thought we got our money's worth! In fact, we all enjoyed it so much, we bought an annual membership so we can go anytime we want! Sadly, our camera battery was near death so I didn't get to take many photos.

Ivory Vintage Market

Had a lovely time yesterday paying my first visit to the Ivory Vintage Market. I believe this was only the second gathering, but oh, what a collection of beautiful items, friendly people and incredible talent!

What amazed me most was that I didn't recognize any of the vendors! Having been to a fair share of Lower Mainland craft fairs and markets as well as regular follower to several local crafty folk, I fancied myself fairly up on the local hand-made, home-made scene...apparently, not so much. What a treat to walk into a room full of drool-worthy displays and for everything to be brand spankin' new to me!

I nabbed a set of owl-themed hankies from hank&cheef [LOVE the name!] just moments through the door. I've been keeping an eye out for handkerchiefs lately and was thrilled to find such cute, eco-friendly ones made locally. I find myself actually hoping to get a cold soon so I can really test them out.

Besides the hankies, I lingered for a while at the Dotty Logic table. The very talented Jasonda Desmond designs her own fabric and also sells a number of cute items made with said fabrics. Sadly, I've been trying to reign in my stash lately so I had to walk away empty handed.

I have no idea if or when there will be another market, but I'll definitely go to the next one...anyone care to join me?

See Abner. See Abner in her new housecoat.

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, Abner has discovered Dick and Jane. We borrowed one of their books a few weeks back and at times, it's been tough to wrestle it out of her hands. So, when I set out to make a little housecoat for Abner a couple of weeks ago, picking the Dick and Jane flannel was a no brainer!

The pattern is from Making Children's Clothes: 25 stylish step-by-step sewing projects for 0-5 years (which I borrowed from Miranda). She whipped up one for her little guy a couple of months ago, so I knew the pattern was a cute one. I did make one modification though; I added a patch pocket to the front. You can kind of see it in the image below. I cut out a piece of the fabric to include the names and pictures of both Dick and Jane and sewed it on in line with the overall pattern so that it kind of blends in.

I also wisely used a seam foot for the first time to do the top stitching. Why have I never used one of these before?!?!?! Perfect 1/4 inch seams!

I was originally planning to use a light weight terry for the lining, but opted instead to go with this candy striper flannel instead. Such a smart move since it's plenty thick and warm as it is!

Abner's certainly been enjoying it so far!

On our last visit chez Hudsonny, we couldn't resist dressing both kids up in their little housecoats...how cute are they!?!?! Thank God Miranda was able to capture the cuteness for me! If I'd posted my own pictures, all you'd be looking at is a blur of colour on a pretty white bed. Thanks Miranda...it pays to have friends with better photography skills than one's self.

Perhaps we're just a little bit crazy making our kids put on flannel robes on one of the hottest days of the year, but when the result is this adorable, who could resist?

Restaurant survival 101: Come armed!

There are two types of parents: those who take their toddlers to restaurants and those who don't. TDSH and I are the former.

We've taken Abner out for all sorts of dining experiences since she was just two weeks old (first dinner out was an Indian themed banquet if I remember correctly).

I'd have to say we've been pretty lucky on the behaviour front. But as she's gotten older, it has gotten just a wee bit more challenging to keep her entertained if the service happens to be slow. With that in mind, I decided to create a little restaurant survival kit.

Our kit contains a sticker book and stickers a small blank notepad and a bag of soy crayons (similar to these ones). [Yes, yes, we're even crazy enough to take her to restaurants that don't supply an activity menu and crayons!] The bag is compact so it's easy to grab on the way out the door and toss into my purse, ready to whip out at the first drop of the fork, clinking of the glasses or yank on the tablecloth [actually, that one's a stretch...I don't think we've gone anywhere with tablecloths...that's just asking for trouble!].

The bag is a Blue Q zipper pouch I picked up a few weeks ago in Nelson. It's called "French lecon." How cute are these retro illustrations?!?!

Here are two of my favourite little scenes...the cranky kid getting towelled off by "mama" (he's probably cranky because mama seems to have let the whole freakin' family into watch him get out of the tub).

...and teen aged girl in a bib. Can someone please explain why the heck she's in a bib at her age?

Before we had the survival kit, we've been known to resort to serenading Abner with Stevie Wonder tunes. I'm sure restaurant patrons everywhere are grateful we've come up with a better strategy.

Got any other suggestions for keeping kids entertained at restaurants?

Pyrex love

Remember me mentioning that I was on the look out for a set of Pyrex bowls? Well, I happened to mention it to my aunt a few weeks ago while we were vacationing near Castlegar. She shares my obsession with thrift stores so we've started sharing some of our thrift wish list items so we can be on the look out for each other. She really came through this time when she found me these pretty much the very next day:

What you are looking at is a set of butterprint turquoise cinderella mixing bowls. It's not the complete set I'd been hoping for, but this is actually better! Now I have the rather enjoyable task of looking for the missing bowl!

If you'd care to help me in this quest, I'm looking for the 1 1/2 quart (#442) bowl that should fit between the two white bowls. I already know it's readily available on Ebay, but I think I'll try my luck in thrift stores first. According to Pyrex Love, it's not a very rare pattern, so it should be relatively easy to find.

Within days of getting these fabulous beauties home, I'd already gotten rid of my crappy old plastic bowls and was putting these to use for just about any reason I could come up with.

This grey dress

OK...it's not much to look at, but I am quite excited about this dress, so please bear with me.

Why am I so excited about a rather shapeless, overly long, plain grey dress? Well, you see, this dress used to be one of my very own t-shirts and now it fits Abner perfectly!

Do you see why I'm so excited yet? No? Let me spell it out for you...I'm excited because I didn't use any pattern whatsoever (side note: I love words that are actually multiple words smushed together). Get it now?!

I cut down the neck, shoulders and fit new sleeves all on my own. I didn't even measure for Pete's sake! I just ran my rotary cutter over the t-shirt and said, "that looks about right", sewed it up, and voila...perfect fit! Sleeves, people! I made perfect sleeves without a pattern!!!

OK, I think I can calm down now. At the moment the sash is just a scrap of fabric I had left over from the anniversary quilt. But, I hope to make a slightly more colourful version soon.

Fabric finds

I spent our whole trip to and from the Kootenays looking for thrift stores. It's becoming a wee bit of an addiction. Sadly, I missed out on most because Abner was sleeping and we couldn't stop the car (she's the lightest sleeper in the world!). I did manage to hit a great shop in Hope just as the drive was (finally) coming to a close. I don't think I spent more than five minutes in the store, but it was a very productive five minutes!

I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to make with this one, but I absolutely love these colours. Perhaps this cute little top?

This stuff is actually a really stretchy, thick polyester which is not something I'm normally drawn to, but when cute puppies are involved...all bets are off. My plan is to attempt a hoodie for fall for Abner, though I imagine I'll have to line it with something soft like flannel.

I'm also throwing these pics in because I picked up this fabric ages ago and haven't posted about it yet. The same day I bought this sheet remnant at Value Village, I found the exact same sheet - uncut - for half the price at a thrift store in PoCo! Argh. No plans as of yet for this one...got any ideas?