Linaloo

Pyjamarama

Nothing much going on apart from an ear infection brewing perhaps - looks like we may be on a sick roll here. Ugh.

These are our Christmas pyjamas. We're lolling around in them quite expertly these days. Tommy's convinced he's a candy cane in these stripes.

We heart hearts

We might not be experiencing the extreme cold we are used to this time of the year, but we were still housebound today because of freezing rain and high winds. Nearly a month has passed since I last mentioned the weather, (I know this, because I've been trying really hard not to go on about it!) but the winter here is usually pretty extreme. The thing is about those -20C days (of which we've had none so far) is that they are generally gorgeous days, not a cloud in the sky, wonderfully sunny and a crisp, clean feeling in the air. Granted, you may only want to be outside briefly on days such as these, but personally I prefer the cold and sunny combination to a warm and miserable grey one any time.

Anyway the upshot of this is that the weather (and no Daddy around) was making us a little glum. So obviously a bit of kiddywink craft was in order. We made some heart garlands, first by melting wax crayon shavings in between wax paper and then by cutting out hearts and sewing them together using this technique. I've never sewed paper before, but this was pretty straightforward.

And look, you can tell from the pictures, we eventually had a bit of sun!

Human again

After losing a whole week to the flu, I have resigned myself to catching up on household chores this week. There are mountains of washing to be dealt with, layers of dust and grime to be shifted and piles of birthday presents to find homes for. I'm in the mood for a big purge and declutter. I'm also desperate to get outside for some fresh air.

There's a big change for us this week when my husband, who has been working from home for the past 18 months, starts a new and exciting job in an office tomorrow. Yes, one of those places that he'll have to drive to everyday. It's been really wonderful having him at home all this time but sadly, it's come to an end. Goodluck my darling!

F I V E

Happy birthday little one.

Still under the weather here, can't seem to shake the flu off.

Sick day

It spreads rapidly from one child to another and then eventually to the grown-ups. The washing machine is constantly loaded, my children have stiff necks and bed head from watching so much TV in one position and I just want to eat soup.

I have no idea why I crave tinned food so much when I'm poorly.

Bless. He fell asleep in the middle of the lounge floor and his big sister wrapped him in a blankie and popped a pillow under his head.

Eco Market Tote

I've always been a fan of the Sew,Mama,Sew blog and was thrilled when they featured my advent calendar last year. When they were asking for pattern testers just before Christmas, I jumped at the chance and they asked me to review this:

The Eco Market Tote.

The lining colour is a bit of a departure for me - but I think it works.

Aren't bags hard to photograph?

It's pretty roomy. We went swimming last weekend and managed to get all our gear in there (4 towels, hairbrushes, shampoo and a hairdryer)!

Edited to add that the review will be on the blog some point this week!

Soft touch

OK, so I caved in.

A combination of mummy's excitement of having made something for the first time and a folorn little girl with a tummy ache and fever, made me give this to her last night. Instead of for her birthday next week.

She's a Ruby doll. A Ruby for my Ruby. She's been renamed Elizabeth and we've already had a request for a brother. He may have to be one of these.

Busy

Life has been hectic in our house of late. Normal posting will resume shortly (I hope). In the meantime, here are a few gimpses of some projects that I've got going on. Lots of starting, no finishing anything yet!

A bag from a pattern test for those lovely people at Sew,Mama,Sew. More details on Monday.

Bunting.

And something special for a-soon-to-be 5 year old.

Saturday afternoon

Thank you so much for your thoughtful responses and pearls of wisdom regarding my kindergarten dilemma. I know every parent goes through this anxiety, particularly when sending their first-born off to school, but I feel reassured that trusting my instincts is the right thing to do. I'll let you know when we find the one.

Thank you also Tess for this kind award. It comes with a request for 7 weird facts about me. I'm not sure if these are suitably strange, but here goes:

1. The sonographer told me my son was a girl.
2. I don't like eating fruit, it's a texture thing.
3. I don't like ice cream.
4. I just sewed my first ever button hole after successfully avoiding them thus far in my sewing endeavours. Not that scary after all.
5. I once worked in the European Parliament as a "stagaire" (intern).
6. I love Heinz tinned tomato soup.
7. I just listened to this on my iPod whilst sewing.

I pass the award on, should you choose to accept it, to Florence, Emily and Lucy. Check out Lucy's blog for a lovely Valentine's swap.

Enjoy your weekend!

Wednesday evening

Thinking, wondering, overwhelmed.

Registration for kindergarten begins early next month which means there are a lot of open days happening in the next week or two. I'm learning what I can about the Quebec public school system and all its complexities. There are two different school boards, French and English, both with different programmes and varying degrees of French and English. Our options are: 100% French, early French immersion (85% French for the first 3 years, then 50/50) or bilinugal, a 50/50 split. Then there's the location. It appears not many schools are over subscribed, so, within reason we can take our pick. There doesn't seem to be any kind of rating system, league tables or ofsted equivalent, so school performance cannot be used as part of our selection criteria.

Perhaps I shouldn't be negative about having such amazing choices, but I do feel a little overwhelmed. I have a long list of questions in my head but I'm thinking, in the end our hearts and gut feelings will count for an awful lot.