Christmas Wish List

Upon request ;)

Ideas for moi:

• David's Tea is all the rage. I love this mug, and to have a go at loose leaf teas like all the cool kids do. 

Found here. 

• While you're there visiting that ^ link, know that a David's measuring spoon, tea collections (such as this one), or a gift card for funky teas would be much appreciated :) 

• Boot socks (like the 80s!). They're $12 from Payless shoes. Grey or black would be fab. 

• Flavoured syrup for cappuccinos. Vanilla and or cameral would be a dream. So would flavoured large granular sugar toppings (all of these are on sale right now at Winners ;) 

• A new toaster. I know, I know. I'm a grown woman, I should just go buy a toaster. Well you see, I can't. Because ours still works. Most of the time. I dream of a toaster that can handle thinker, larger slices of bread without causing a fire hazard... That's about all the criteria I have for that one. 

In a nutshell, I love coffee, tea, and beverage accessories! Anything kitchen related (including spice mixes, cook books, etc) would be quite welcomed. I don't need anything, but for those who are going to purchase anyways, my indulgence is Starbucks. A SB giftcard for guilt-free treats would be awesome.

Ideas for Jonathan:

• Clothes are always more than welcome. He's wearing 18-24 months now and will be fitting into 24months or even 2T soon enough. 

• Melissa and Doug have pretty awesome toys. He went fishing at a friends' house the other day and was hooked 

This is just an example. Any of their toys would be fabulous.
And rumour has is that winners often has lots of Melissa and Doug toys. 

• His (*cough* our *cough*) favorite children's author is Sandra Boynton. Jonathan loves books! Also, rumour has it there's a music CD of Boynton stories and songs.

• A second car seat for Manitoba. I know, that's a big one. But hey, what are 'wishlists' for, right? It's really hard on the car seat to be lugged back and forth each trip and considering he's at an age that one could now last him for the next few years, it's a good idea to have one that just stays in Manitoba. 

• Stolenz boots and mits. He outgrew last year's and we really miss them!! 

• A kid's apron. He's all about 'helping' mommy in the kitchen. I think he needs a tiny manly apron to match his awesome attitude. 

In a nutshell, Jonathan is all about construction 'diggers', trucks, monkeys, and dogs these days. Also, if it has the ability (or at least the potential) to tow something, he's floored. So if you can find a digger that's shaped as a monkey towing a truck with a dog inside... You'll have a new best friend.

Ideas for Tom... 

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Honey? I think you need to work on your list. 

a day (well, morning) at the farm

This morning we visited Quinn Farm.

Jonathan was enthralled, to say the least, with the tractors.

The animals were pretty exciting too.

The barn was quite delightful.

And he could help but show off his overalls.

But no matter what we did...

Nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to those tractors.

Sunny November

Looking at today's forecast across the country 

I quickly realized 

  we needed to get outside and enjoy the +17 degrees...

Mommy's little Halloween helper

This Lil Pumpkin

Thoroughly enjoyed

Playing with colourful rectanglar boxes (poor sucker had no idea it was chocolate in there!)

 And anxiously awaiting more visitors to give them to..

Wedded Bliss

We went to a wedding yesterday. It was fabulous.... We went to the dinner, enjoyed the cocktails, partook in the Cha Cha Slide, had an awesome time and came home well after 1:00am. While wearing dangly earrings. Yes. Dangly earrings. Because precious Jonathan was at home, eating his favorite sweet and sour chicken for dinner at home, playing at the park and sleeping soundly in his crib (ON TIME!) with a super awesome baby sitter.

I seriously couldn't pay her enough. And that wasn't just the grappa talking.

the big FIVE

Today I received 5 gorgeous roses from the love of my life... Tomorrow is our fifth anniversary :)

trolling the etsy for christmas gift ideas

I love etsy.  It's like having cool artistic talent without all the work. Everything is handmade, just not by me. Score. The drawback? Must order early in time fro Christmas. So shop I must.

I think I'll get Jay one of these and one of these. Look like great airplane ride gifts  :)

I think one of these would be awesome too... Except made with rice and by someone Jay knows and loves. Someone with sewing talent and a knack for stuff like that... But where would I find someone like that???

today

we laid low today
i had a migraine
it was awful
tom came home from work early
that ^ made baby happy
cause mama was boring

i'm behind in blogtober
i know
.
.
.
i know

weekend recap

Friday evening I spent at a friend's house setting up for another friend's bridal shower. It was fun and I was so impressed with the matron of honor's decoration ideas. Wow. I do not have that kind of talent.

Saturday Tom went to a men's breakfast at the church. Jay and I chilled at home and made delicious cinnamon buns. Gosh they were good. We spent the afternoon at the park and went of for an early dinner at a local sushi restaurant. I brought some food for Jay but he wanted NOTHING to do with it. He wanted sushi. And to eat it with chop-sticks. Go figure.

Saturday night I went to said bridal shower. I was the official photographer for the event - it was fun! 

The dim lighting was fantastic practice for ISO/shutter speed/aperture adjustments let me tell ya...

This morning Tom made french toast while I was still sleeping (two GLORIOUS things those are french toast and sleeping in!). The best part? He made them out of the cinnamon buns I made yesterday. WOWZERS. They were good.

We served coffee after the morning service at church had a quick lunch and nap at home before heading downtown Montreal to hit up some awesome markets and shops. Its such fun heading into the big city for the day!

We ended the wonderful weekend with tamales for dinner. And voila. The weekend is over.

Feliz Cumpleaños

VIDEO 10 ANIVERSARIO (ENGLISH ONLY LITTLE) from Hector Soto on Vimeo.




This video makes me yearn for Costa Rica. It's about the mission where we were serving and the people we lived with (some literally!) and grew to love so deeply. It's nice to see that they all seem to be doing so well.

And for those of you who read this blog and came down to see us (mom) I'm sure you'll recognize a few faces too :)

a blog post for those who aren't on facebook

Wordless Wednesday

family photos

A friend snapped a few family photos for us in hopes of getting some Christmas card and brochure material. When we were done, I asked him to take one like this:

But of course to get him to smile like that, we had to do this:

50 things I'm thankful for, in random order

1. My fantastic, supportive, and courageous husband
2. My fun, kooky, loveable 19 (NINETEEN!!!) month old
3. Jesus, my saviour
4. A safe house to sleep in
5. The park a block away
6. The water front 2 blocks away
7. Jonathan's mad obsession with cleaning tools (having a rough day? Break out the broom!)
8. The internet to keep in contact with everyone
9. Facebook. Gosh I love Facebook. I'm not sure what I'd do without my FB groups...
10. My mama friends. They keep me sane and trick me into thinking I'm not nuts. 
11. Every supporter that has got behind our upcoming endeavor. So far we have 27 monthly supporters, an additional 15 one-time supporters, and over a dozen more families to get back to us... The Lord provides! 
12. A safe car to drive
13. Friends calling us up to ensure we have somewhere to be for Thanksgiving dinner
14. Baby sign language. This is GENIUS. 
15. Sangria. I'll admit it. 
16. The colours of autumn.
17. Skype
18. My iPhone
19. Cloth diapers
20. Cappuccinos
21. Our fancy and fangled washer an dryer. They've made laundry fun again
22. Airplanes, which make this world so much smaller
23. Video baby monitors
24. For my friend Ariel in Costa Rica who is on the slooooww road to recovery, but recovery none-the-less! 
25. For a family member's test results coming back benign
26. Online banking
27. Family allowance cheques
28. Receiving (fun!) mail
29. Starbucks
30. Sushi
31. Bible Study Fellowship, I am being challenged and learning so much
32. The child care provided at BSF, Jonathan is getting to work on his being-wihtout-mommy skills in a safe, nurturing, peaceful environment. He isn't thrilled about it, but he's been such a brave boy. 
33. My Bloggy friends
34.  Long weekends
35. Playgroups
36. Chocolate
37. Kind neighbors
38. A wonderful landlord
39. Direction in life
40. Healthcare
41. The fabulous strip of water-front restaurants in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue
42. The prairie sky
43. Thunderstorms
44. My parents
45. Caramel apple dip
46. My bread machine
47. Jonathan's teddy bear. Life is a lot easier with a transition object around ;) Plus it's so cute the way he loves on it.
48. My camera
49. Sandra Boynton's children's books
50. Consignment shops

Happy Thanksgiving!

when two and a half hobbies are combined...

 You get fun photos (1) of cloth diapers (1) in a blog post (0.5) review.

Actual review here: http://www.diaperdeals.ca/diaper-review-the-modern-crunch

a lovely day in Kingston

We got up and headed to Kingston first thing this morning to spend the day with a few of Tom's cousins and their families. In all we were 5 adults and and 5 children (age 3 and under).

It was loud and it was fun. We had delicious food and spent some time at a local pumpkin patch and corn maze. And we *almost* got a great family photo out of the deal too.

10 things about today

1. Jay woke at 6:30am, Tom was so gracious to get out of bed and spend time with him before leaving for work so I could sleep in. Sweet, sweet, glorious sleep. 
2. Jay and I did make it to our playgroup... But first I did the dishes and vacuumed. Go me! 
3. I *finally* let Jay have a go with the vacuum cleaner. If you know my son, you know he's OBSESSED with vacuums and this made his month!
4. I brought the apples & caramel dip and the homemade hummus to the playgoup. Both were very well received! 
5. We left the playgroup early so I could get Jay down for him nap and lunch on the table before my girlfriend and her 3 year old arrived. 
6. Jay slept for a whopping 35 minutes before he heard someone else playing with his toys and demanded to join in. 
7. The four of us had a wonderful afternoon with all-things dipable for lunch, time at the park, and toys strewn everywhere. I'm kind of taking a liking to the chaos of toddlers. 
8. Our company left at 5:20 and Jay was asleep by 5:22
9. For dinner we had all-thing leftovers because this is going to be a busy weekend out of the house! 
10. And here we are kicking off another long weekend! Happy Thanksgiving!

Delicious.

For tomorrow's gathering I made this and this. It is going to be a delicious time.

This weekend is also looking quite delicious with a family get-together in Kingston on Saturday, and Thanksgiving dinners on Sunday AND Monday.  Wish me luck with my cheese-birds.

Socializing.

If there's one thing that's completely detrimental to the morale of the stay at home mom, it's isolation: The feeling you are alone, like you're the only one fighting put-your-jacket-on battles, and convinced everyone else has it together. The solution? Play groups.

Why haven't I partaken before?!?

This fall Jay and I are booked with outings of social nature 3-4 mornings a week. In a few weeks, it will be 4-5 mornings a week. Each day is something different, and I love it. And no, I never meant to book that much. It just sort of happened.

Mondays: Tots sensory class.
I looooove this class. It's all about the kids and letting them be the exploring toddlers they are. It's semi-structured and absolutely fantastic. Plus it gives me much-needed low-cost toddler activity ideas for home. I wasn't planning on registering, but a girlfriend of mine was dying to sign up for something and wanted someone to come with her. So glad I did! It's only 45 minutes and starts at 10:00, which gives us plenty of time to get there and get other things done before nap time.

Wednesday: Mom & tots play group at the church.
A girlfriend of mine and I started this up a few weeks ago and I'm really enjoying it. Basically we come and take over the church basement for a few hours Wednesday mornings. We bring our kids, some food, and spend the time encouraging (and commiserating) with each other. It's been fantastic for growing my relationship with fellow moms-of-toddlers in the congregation.

Thursday: Bible Study Fellowship (BSF)
This one was a stretch for me, but I'm so glad I've joined. It's a weekly, intense, bible study for women. My biggest concern was leaving Jonathan in the child care provided. The first week went swimmingly, the second was a bit tougher... But really, it's been SO GOOD for me to see that he can be left with someone for a few hours... And that doing so is actually a good thing for our relationship.

Friday: Local playdate
A friend of mine that lives about a block from me has a few mamas and their kids over every Friday morning. I throw Jonathan in the sling and take my coffee cup steaming with black goodness and join them to wrap up the week. The group is far more granola than I am, but the change of people, scenery, and parenting style is nice.


But considering tomorrow is my bible study, I need to go to my homework! 

Hung up on the tail feathers.

I want to make this for Thanksgiving:

We've been invited to join another family in their feast, so the least I can do is bring a fancy cheese ball thingy. But here's the kicker, I'm gung-ho about making it until it comes to those tail feathers. For one, I'm not a fan of food colouring, and for two... I'm kinda lazy and can't see myself doing that.

So please, help save the cheese ball and lend me your suggestions for a new (lazy-woman's) tail!

Blogtober. Oh my.

Thanks to Tiffany for the reminder... Oiy. I completely forgot!

So here's the deal: I'm either going to blog everyday (either here or our missions blog - hey, my blog(s), my rules) or I think it's time to pack this blog in.

Yeah, I know, extreme. But seriously? This blog has only been a source of guilt lately. No joy. At all. So I think it's time to come back to it, or to chop it. No more guilt. Life's too short.

So here's to a month of slapped-together posts in order to keep this puppy alive!



**NOTE: This was written ahead of time and schedule to be posted yesterday, October 1st. So I haven't entirely failed at Blogtober yet, just still getting familiar with the new interface. 

*Under renovations*

Because it was unanimous that the last layout kind of sucked.

Wiping off the dust...

We're having our annual blogger get together this Saturday... To ensure I'm still welcome, I better dust this site off and get back at her!!

So here's something interesting!  Recognize anyone?!

It's my latest photography project and Jonathan's newest modeling work ;)

Photo Challenge Day 25 ~ Home

I know it's cheesy, but Tom is my home. No matter where we are living, what we are doing, or where we are going, so long as he is with me, I'm home.

Photo Challenge Day 24 ~ Artwork

Pic to come, will take tomorrow. Jonathan coloured his first ever picture for Daddy's birthday. He was beside himself with pride!

Photo Challenge Day 23 ~ Animal

Sam, my sweetheart, and Sonia, the sidekick I gave him for company when I became too busy to be home as much as he needed me to be (translation: started dating Tom).

Photo Challenge Day 22 ~ Something Old

A well experienced cheese farmer in Costa Rica.
I can't help but love the lighting on this shot.

Photo Challenge Day 21 ~ Something New

A new, unbreakable, father-son bond.

Photo Challenge Day 19 ~ Something I Drew

A gasp of air.







No, I'm not pregnant. This was our first realization of Jonathan.

Photo Challenge Day 19 - Hobby

Buying, selling, trading, reviewing and, well, using cloth diapers.

Is anyone surprised?

Photo Challenge Day 18 - Written Words

Beautiful written words of encouragement and advice from those we love the most. Yes, these are our wedding cards. And I've kept them aaaaaaaaall of them for nearly 5 years! Every so often (usually in the middle of a move) I find them, and sit and leaf through them - loving the care that went into them and the wonderful advice they provide. I'm usually not one to hang on to things for sentimental value, but I don't see these being recycled any time soon.

Photo Challenge Day 17 ~ Trees

Beautiful Costa Rican trees. *Sigh*

And see that thin line running from the bottom right to top left (ish)? That was out first of many cables on a zip lining tour. *Big Sigh*

I love Costa Rica.

Photo Challenge Day 16 ~ Self Portrait

How would a self-portrait be complete without my awesome sidekick?! This also serves as an update to the Pea in a Pod taken last July. My how time flies.

And, umm, it's kind of tricky taking a photo of yourself with a baby on the hip. Please excuse the poor composition and focal points!

Photo Challenge Day 15 - My weakness

Okay, okay. This one isn't my photo - but it is my weakness and I don't have any around for a shot (surprise, surprise?)

Tomorrow: Self portrait

Photo Challenge Day 14 - Favorite Colour

I love all sorts of colours, and it usually depends on the item... But red is often high on the list.

Photo Challenge Day 13 - Water

I know. I actually missed posting this on one time. lol

This photo is of an HCJB fresh water project we had the honor of visiting while serving in Ecuador two summers ago. This day - with all it's joy, hard work, and come-tegoetherness-to-make-a-difference-in-the-community - had such a powerful effect on me that no words can describe. This photo is of the members of the community, working together, to hand dig a trench for he new water pipeline.

Photo Challenge Day 12 ~ Where I ate breakfast

Okay, so this wasn't from this morning's breakfast (obviously) because I forgot. But I ate breakfast here none the less!

Photo Challenge Day 11 ~ Black & White

Fantastic memories with fantastic friends :)

Photo Challenge Day 10 ~ Summertime!

Jonathan and I have been having a blast hitting up all the splash pads and kiddie pools around the neighborhood. Yay summertime!!

Photo Challenge Day 9 ~ Hands

The night of our engagement - March 2, 2007 :)

Photo Challenge Day 8 ~ Books

We read a lot of (children's) books in this house. But not one of them compares to the amazing busy book Jonathan received for his 1st birthday from his grandmother. It's a very special book, for a very special boy, received on his special day. Love it.

Tomorrow? Hands

Photo Challenge Day 7 ~ Transportation

Photo Challenge Day 7 - Toes

One of my most favoritest photos ever. October 28th, 2007. The day after our wedding.

Tomorrow: Transportation.

Photo Challenge Day 5 ~ Filthy

A sand box and water table on the back deck makes for a lot of fun. And a lot of baths.

Tomorrow: Toes!

Photo Challenge Day 4 ~ Clean

Jay and Tom in a friend's pool earlier this summer. The first thing I thought of was "Wow, that pool is so CLEAN!"

Tomorrow: Filthy!

Photo Challenge Day 3 ~ Lunch

I had all sorts of intent to take a pic at lunch today - but alas, I couldn't resist posting this little cutie with pizza on his shoulder.

Tomorrow's theme: Clean

Photo Challenge Day 2 - Street

Maybe I didn't take it recently, but I did indeed take it :)

Tomorrow? Lunch!

Photo Challenge Day 1 ~ Maple leaf