dpp 2011 | askew

I was making bias binding at 12am last night.

I may have descended to a new level of sickness. :)

dpp 2011 | by the chimney with care

A handcrafted stocking, completed and waiting to go home to a little boy, E. 100% cotton, manually machine quilted in spirals and waves, with a contrasting applique and trim. I hope E. likes it!

dpp 2011 | tension

Dec 20::


I live at my sewing machine now. If you need me, I'll be winding bobbins with a mouthful of pins.

dpp 2011 | a girl and her dog

Dec 19::


I will protect the blanket.

dpp 2011 | conduction

I sing soprano in our church choir. Our annual Christmas concert is tomorrow afternoon, and this morning we had our rehearsal with the chamber orchestra. I so adore listening to and singing Bach, and I do so love seeing our Director of Music's enthusiasm for Bach, as well. We are very blessed to work with such a passionate artist.

dpp 2011 | dough

We made salt dough ornaments today.

I recently read this post and knew that I wanted to do this with Peanut. So yesterday we trundled off, the three of us, through the rain and the wind and the rush hour crowds, to the dollar store. We did some Christmas shopping (yes, at the dollar store because Christmas shopping with a 3yo at a dollar store filled with entirely random stuff is, frankly, hilarious) and got some supplies for salt dough ornaments as well as my funky gift wrapping plan for this year (which you'll probably see in a post in the next day or two). Today we played with dough.

A lovely little memory with my girls.

dpp 2011 | blue christmas

It was 10C today. 10! On the fifteenth of December. I'm not holding my breath for a white Christmas this year. Bare can be pretty, too...

dpp 2011 | sweet

Lunch with my sweeties. I'm very blessed to have cool people in my life, either locally or online. A friend of mine from university has an awesome foodie blog that I love and several months ago shared a recipe for baked sweet potato fries that really turn out beautifully. Since sweet potatoes are a nutrient-rich food, they make a great food for early eaters so I've been trying to get Bubby to enjoy them. My first attempt at simple sweet potato wedges didn't go over too well, but these were a hit yesterday. I made some cashew cream for myself for dipping. Yum!

dpp 2011 | baby-led

We are big, big fans of the baby-led weaning approach to infant solids. Rather than feeding pureed foods we offer our babies appropriate finger foods and allow them to self-feed. It's messy, true, but it's wonderful to watch the learning and developing happen. It's also very reassuring to know that they will never eat solids before their body is physically prepared to do so and we'll never inadvertently over-feed or feed them something they dislike.

With Peanut we discovered that she had some sort of sensory issue with food. It took months of work and patience, all while watching her lose more and more weight, but by the time she hit her second birthday she was - finally! - eating solid foods and was starting to transition away from nursing 8 times a day. Bubby, though, is a very enthusiastic eater! Carrots, potatoes, clementines, apples, rice pasta...and all without teeth. One of her big favourites is the potatoes from my Gaeng Garee Gai. You should hear her slurp the curry off the potato!

dpp 2011 | lights

Dec 11::



We like Christmas lights. A lot. Since we put up the tree we have lit the living room almost exclusively with the lights on the tree and those draped around the room. Sunday Jon was putting up even more lights over the kitchen counter and Peanut was helping while Wembley and Bubby supervised.

dpp 2011 | cousins

Dec 10 ::



Peanut and her cousin are only 7 months apart in age. Growing up in the same city and going to the same church they see a lot of each other and get to spend birthdays and holidays together. They had a good time at Cousin's birthday party this weekend.

dpp 2011 | toddler salute

The toddler salute. It doesn't get more quintessential than this.

dpp 2011 | how lovely are your branches

Peanut adores a Christmas tree: it's what she talks about most when Christmas is discussed at other times of the year. She remembers the tree, the decorations...gifts have never been a focus for her. It's the celebration that matters. I feel the same way. I am beside-myself-happy that we have instilled that in her. Now it's Bubby's turn.
I missed getting this photo up yesterday, which is when the photo was taken. It must have been an exhausting day for all of us since we all fell asleep far earlier than usual. In keeping with the theme of this post, this evening Bubby, while refusing to settle to sleep for a time, simply gazed at the tree, alight in the room. Magical.

dpp 2011 | life stilled

This project is really making me notice the light in this apartment at different times of day. The conclusion I've come to is that I need to repaint in a warmer colour: the light in here during the day is just so cool it reads positively cold in photos. At night, though, with the lights of the tree and lights draped around the living space it is warm and cozy feeling. Definitely the sort of light I like photographing. As a result, most of my photos are happening in the evening. It makes for some late editing and posting, but it's worth it. I couldn't limit myself to one photo, so I've included the two runners up as well.



An evening coffee and some blogging while the family sleeps. Normally I would drink tea, but today I wanted something rich. A big Christmas mug of a fair-trade roast - an Ethiopian bean, my favourite! - was in order. The mug was a gift in a Christmas stocking years ago. If you look closely at the base of the mug, the reindeer depicted is Dancer. My mom knows what she's doing when she's picking out gifts. :)


I've often admired pictures in magazines or on blogs of living rooms that are beautifully put together, particularly at Christmas, where the tree is well-styled and the space seems entirely changed and devoted to the season. Our living room doesn't look like that, I suspect never will look like that and, ultimately, really shouldn't look like that. That's just not who we are. What we do have, however, is a room where Christmas has filled our space and co-exists with the business of living. And I like that. I like that we don't have "Christmas space" and "normal space". It's all just one space, and it is where celebrating and train track building and colouring and laundry folding and diaper changing all happen. This is where we live, including where we live our Advent.



Jon remarked this evening, "Some parents insist that Hallowe'en costumes are only worn on Hallowe'en. But every day I try to convince her to put hers on!" Peanut was a puppy for Hallowe'en this year and I think Jon loves the puppy suit even more than Peanut does, which is really saying something. Often when he asks if she wants to wear it, she responds, "No!" in a tone that suggests that the idea is utterly ridiculous. This evening, though, she was game. She also insisted that she sit next to our other puppy while they each had a cookie.

dpp 2011 | auntie ess

We spent the day with my Auntie Ess today. She did me the very great favour of giving me and Bubby a ride to an appointment since we're currently having some car trouble and then spent the rest of the afternoon with us! Lots of cuddle and story time with the littles. What a great day!

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DPP 2011 | while the cat's away

Observe Bubby. Observe Bubby's toy (foreground). Observe Bubby ignoring her toy and playing with the box of little, choking-hazard Smurfs.

The Smurfs were Jon's when he was a boy and now the girls have them. But Peanut, being the older child, thinks of them as hers and hers alone and does not intend on sharing them with Bubby. She is, after all, three years old. So we're working on sharing. And when she's off to bed, Bubby takes advantage of Peanut's absence and goes straight for the Smurfs. Clever girl.

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DPP 2011 | pat-a-cake

We spent the day with Gran and my sister, brother-in-law and niece. Before dinner, the littlest two were napping (click through to see today's runner-up image, a lovely - though slightly underexposed - shot of my glowing sister and her little darling) or nursing and Peanut had a little playtime with Gran to herself. It is sometimes so incredible to see either of my parents with my children: to think that they have three grandchildren, already! We are so blessed.

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DPP 2011 | play time

We finally built that fort in our living room. We all sat in our fort and had a nice cuddle, including Wembley and you can see here that Bubby enjoyed the change of scenery. It made for a fun afternoon after a great morning. We woke up to snow - yes! - and ended up at the park because Peanut has been declaring for days that she wanted to "throw snow" (that link takes you to today's runner up photo). We even met another mom with her two children and, best of all, they're homeschoolers! We exchanged emails: playdates are in our future.

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