big bowl of fruit

can i just say (of course i can, it's my blog) how happy seeing this on my table makes me?

so happy. 

jude calls the nectarines "apples" and noah called the kiwi fruit "those brown fuzzy ones". 

seeing this will also make jamie feel angst at the thought of all this fruit potentially going bad and thus being a waste. but when fruit is out and in plain sight, it gets eaten. 

end of story.

also, it makes me happy.

adorbs

yesterday my lovely friend beth tweeted saying that she had picked up a small gift for me, "just because". 

i love "just because" gifts. those tend to be the most thoughtful, special gifts.

anyway, she dropped it off today and i almost died from the cuteness.

it's a little owl.

and it's heavy! it's made out of iron or something. it feels wonderful in my hand.

this little guy is coming to uganda with us for sure.

i think i might name him hedwig.

v-day

i'm not usually one to decorate for valentine's day - much less "celebrate" it or make a big deal out of it {or spend piles of money on it}.
but i think i've always wanted to {well, maybe not spending the piles of money, but definitely decorate for it}.
this year i've been getting my fill of sweetie-pie, cutesy, romantic crafts in preparation for valentine's day.
because of this, noah doesn't get that it's a 'day' because we've been making valentine's for the past month.
oh well.
that's a good thing, right?

in my head, my mantel is not quite finished so i won't post a picture of it yet, but i'm pretty pleased with it as is. {so pleased, in fact that i have had it set up as it is for weeks now without adding the finishing touches}.

rain.

When I wear my rain boots I feel invincible.

Or at least impervious to all the creepy crawlies and bird poop (& sometimes cat or rabbit poop) that often hide in our grass.

A glorious rainstorm hit us mid-afternoon and toward the end of it, I threw on my boots and tromped around outside to take some pictures.

It was wonderful.

When I'm holding my camera and my sole purpose is to capture some great shots, all of a sudden the world looks different. I see beauty in everything. Even the creepy crawlies (though most were hiding because of the rain).

I love post-rainstorm pictures. Rain drops glisten like nature's treasure. Tiny little gems perch on every leaf, petal and branch.

It's

so

beautiful.

The Nest

I am totally obsessed with the robin nest that is so perfectly situated in the empty planter that is attached to the wall right outside our door.

I noticed the makings of a nest starting to form a day or so ago and then all of a sudden - a nest! And then...2 beautiful, blue robin eggs. They are everything you'd imagine them to be. A gorgeous colour of blue. (Hence the colour Robins Egg Blue.) Perfect and smooth.

And then - 3 beautiful eggs!
(And a couple scares where I got home late at night and upon entering the door, the robin flew out of the nest - not at me, but just to get away. Scared the buhjeezies out of me.)

Anyway so Jamie tells me there are 2 robins in there right now. I want to go check. In fact, I want to install a 24 hour birdie cam to watch them. Is that weird? I don't really care. I'm so intrigued! And I can't wait for those eggs to hatch!

I've already taken a bajillion pictures of the eggs, perhaps I'll get a picture of the babies when they're hatched. I just hope I don't get dive bombed by any angry Mama Birdies.

You can count on more pictures and updates on the nest. Perhaps I should capitalize it. The Nest.

Enjoy these pictures of The Nest.

*in this one you can see just how small The Nest is to be tucked away in such a small planter. So tiny. So perfect. I just want to nom on it.

Think Time...

The other night (aside from Jude rejecting his crib/room for the third night in a row) Noah woke up at around 11pm and cried for awhile. So I went in and sat with him - I said I would stay until he fell asleep but 40 minutes later with my left leg completely asleep and Noah standing up in his crib peering down at me in the dark I realized it wasn't happening. So I left. And he was quiet for a little while but then cried again about 20 minutes later.

We eventually hung out in our bed until 2:30ish and then all fell asleep in our respective beds.

But all that to say, I had 40 minutes of quiet, uninterrupted think time while sitting with Noah.

I don't often get think time. So much so that after I came back to bed with Jamie and words started pouring out of my mouth of all that I had been thinking about, Jamie remarked this very thing to me.

It's true.

But one of the things I thought about was creativity.

I know it's a bit late for New Years' Resolutions, but if I had to make a goal, I'd say that I want 2010 to be all about creativity for me.

Here's how that breaks down for me:

1. In the kitchen.

I want to be more creative with my cooking.

I want to try using ingredients that I've never used before (like bulgar wheat).

I want to discover new food loves (maybe even ones that don't include sugar...?).

I would like to try fancier desserts and work on my cupcake skills...

2. In my leisure time.

By the end of 2010 I want to be proficient and confident at using MY sewing machine. I want to know how to fix minor issues and be able to use at least a handful of the settings on it.

I'd love to be able to sew basic things like pillows, simple clothing patterns, and even make some kids toys/baby accessories.

I'd also like to get out with my camera and even though my favourite subjects are my boys, it'd be nice every now and then to capture the world around me.

3. In my health.

This does tie into cooking, but also by trying new exercise classes, videos and other ideas for staying (read: getting) in shape and keeping healthy.

I would LOVE to get back into softball/baseball some day and maybe this year could be a year of betting the old glove and ball out and playing some catch with Jamie (and entertain the boys all at the same time).

I want to have more of a creative outlet in my life. I was made with this creative 'itch' and I think it's about time that I scratch it.

materialistic

Recently I've discovered a few online addictions.

1. Etsy

2. eBay

3. Kijiji

4. Random online shops

My current wants/loves:

Gorgeous necklace from The Vintage Pearl - among other things on this website.

Then there's this:

Beautiful necklace from Etsy store Andromedii. LOVE.

Or this beaut:

Hello love.

And then there are the random cloth diapers I drool over on eBay, cloth diaper accessories, make up, jewelery, watches...my materialistic side pops up from time to time and it's often when I'm feeling home-bound and unable to get out (read: winter!). So yeah.
Here I am. Materialistic.

crocs - they've done it again

Well, I do believe that Crocs have come out with a shoe that is both comfortable and stylish (personally I think that most of them are pretty cute, but some would disagree with me).
Say hello to the Croc Prima.
Today I purchased the black ones and am quite pleased with both the look and the feel. They are just like most other slip on flats, but quite a bit more comfortable than most.

spring fling

Today I got to indulge in one of my favourite activities; wearing newly purchased items.
EXCEPT - I had bought this particular item over a month ago (at least it seems that long ago) and delayed in wearing them so that they wouldn't get ruined by the salt.
Any guesses?
That's right. They're shoes. They're pretty much the cutest shoes you've ever seen. I got them at payless when Jamie needed some casual-type dress shoes and so they ended up costing me just under $20 I think.
Anyway, so I was pretty much thrilled to be wearing them - even if I did get some blisters due to the fact that I wore them without socks.
It's spring! Hooray!

in no particular order...

I love these girls:












I love these flowers:









I love him:









I love these treats:

sweet find

Today I went to Value Village to a) try and find black pants and b) help Jamie find some "throwback" suits for a video he's making.

Instead, I walked away with this sweet find for $1.99 (and it's not from China - made in England!):

It's a silver tray. I'm quite pleased with it. Just in time for the Christmas season of taking Christmas cookies to and fro to friends and relatives.
I also debated buying a scandalous green dress.
I decided against it because ... well, basically I would never wear it in public. And that would be a waste of money. Let's be honest, here.

two

This (but not shampoo - the body wash) was one of the glorious things that made me happy today. After a good workout at the gym I hopped into a borderline-scalding shower. As I lathered up with my new honey & nut body wash that my sweet mother gave to me for my birthday I couldn't help but smile. What an incredible smell.
It made me happy.





This also made me happy:

What a sweet, sweet laptop. My hilarious husband thought it would be funny to call me and tell me he had to go speak at a small group when REALLY he was picking up my laptop from the post office.
What a tricky, tricky husband.
But how could I be mad when he smiled his cute little smile and in his hands held the beautiful package I've been waiting for!
Hoorah for little laptops!

jewellery

Beautiful.

wants

Ah the Canon Rebel XT digital SLR. Oh how I long for one.
If anyone out there has one they want to sell to me or know where I can get one at a good price...leave a comment.
*sigh*
One day I'll have one...I just know it.