my kilt-y pleasure.

Azriel is taking the term 'young driver' to a whole new level.  

I figured we could start her early, and then she can chauffeur her mama around town (yes, I'm 31 and I don't drive - it's for your safety, really).

So she's still a thumb-sucker, but I believe she can handle this new responsibility. Especially now that she's in training to be the 'big sister'.  :o)

 Gosh I loved this outfit on her the other day!  And double gosh, our bonnie lass is turning 2 in another month!

Azriel's outfit:

hat/beret/toque thing - thrifted [Billabong]

tank top - mama painted [you may remember the d.i.y]

adorable kilt - thrifted [Children's Place]

capri pants - thrifted.

sandals - yep... thrifted.

To find your Thursday's dose of other cute lads and lasses... drive on down to Mama Loves Papa for Small Style again.

chauffeured mama,

Mel :o)

my baby.fruit basket.4.

Today was quite the hilarious experience friends.  We went to get our 'almost 5 months now' ultrasound.  Ben and I sat in the quiet waiting room with other expectant mothers... and then Ben started to rummage.crumple.crinkle into the bag of chips he brought - well I got a case of the giggles from his loud munching - and the pressure to not giggle in a quiet room.

Then we got in to the ultrasound room and I was giggling more - which made the Dr's gadget bounce around on my jiggling baby gut!  Fun times.

I also guessed the gender as I watched the screen - and that's wild too!  I'll let you good folks know soon enough, don't worry. :o)

And did I mention that my baby fat has now officially popped out over night?  I suddenly am 'seriously showing'.

An exciting.funny.enlightening day had at this nest.

baby mama,

Mel :o) 

P.S. to follow my baby's progress down the produce aisle you can catch up here.

birds of a feather. necklace.

 My latest necklace pendants to hatch from this nest.

A series called 'birds of a feather'.

A memento.

A reminder.

Of those we hold dear... 

those we 'flock together' with.

I like the idea of imprinting the initials of that soul mate on the back of the wood pendant.

Each necklace has a unique delicate feather wrapped with grey wool to a light wooden pendant.  A russet brown wire and twist clasp holds it close to you.

Come check these out and all the other craftiness at this weekend's Craft Harvest Sale.  I'm really proud of this show - as I have been pouring my creative energies into projects that I delight in.  I'm only making stuff that I would love to own myself! ;o)

Hope to see you there friends,

Mel :o)

wood & lace earrings.

Here's a couple more sneak peeks at current crafting projects from my nest.  My newest line of earrings are this wood & lace version.

The feather-light wood pendants are hand-painted and then bordered with a delicate lace trim.

These will be on display this coming weekend at our local Craft Harvest Show!

Hope to see you there!

Crafting mama,

Mel :o)

slide.show.sunday.take 13

Hello friends - we're home.safe.sound.and stinky!

Our weekend camping at Presqui'le was.... exciting/exhausting...  here's the 'slide.show.sunday' to prove it.

Daughter Azriel is all packed and waiting to go... and this is what two mama's pack a car like to go away for the weekend!  Sheesh!  Y'all remember handsome lil' Reggie I'm sure. :o)

Our husbands were joining in Saturday evening... but we headed up Friday. 

Saturday morning... we're still smiles... and bundled up against the cool morning dew.

 

Here's 'base camp' for 30+ folks from our church.  13 adults and 16 young.crazy.active kids... I think every parent had a twitch or wandering eye as we all wondered where our kid had disappeared to, who's was screaming, which was teetering over to the fire pit.. or trying to eat a rock...

To break away from the 'wild'.. we went to the beach... Lake Ontario style.

Azriel was in her element.. dirt... sand... she clearly can't get enough of it.

Ok, back to the camp site.  Now I'm not dumb enough to camp right under the falling apple(s) tree... but we were next to it.  Our tent was the size of a broom closet.. and just fit an air mattress (that was clearly set to "deflate" half way through each night).

Constellations of apples.crickets.stars.marshmallows.and hornets.filled the camp.

I'm not going to lie, camping with a toddler is a bit nuts.  I was pretty pooched by Saturday evening when my husband Ben finally arrived... and boy I was eager and waiting for him to show - like a fat kid for the ice cream truck!  I hated being away from him... and I loved seeing him rush up and swing his giggling daughter around (and yah, we'll pretend he could lift me and do the same thing!). :o)

 

It's good to be home as a family again, too.

Good to have a hot.bubbly.soak.

Good to have a soft bed that doesn't deflate.

Good to love, and be loved. 

Hoping your weekend was a good one too,

see you on the flip side friends,

Mel ;o)

preggo & packing ponderings...

Well here's a shot of moi, the daughter... and the gut, the baby gut.  Yes, it's officially the awkward stage in my pregnancy where we all look and wonder "is she just getting fatter... or is she pregnant?".  I guess I should paint a shirt that says 'bun in this oven'.  Much like the shirt I want for when I am bigger - 'this is not a petting zoo, thanks'.

If you've been following my pregnancy 'baby.fruit basket' progress, you'll have another update next week.  I'll be getting the exciting ultrasound that may show which gender is brewing in there!  If I was a betting mama, I would bet we're getting another girl though... due to the continual intense nausea anytime I try to wean off my "diclectin".

In other news, we're almost all packed here for the weekend camping trip!  I'm always amazed that I now seem to pack the same amount for one weekend as I did for a month through Europe.  Chalk it up to 'toddler' excess... these wee ones require lots of supplies.

Hope y'all have a fantastic weekend,

see you on the flip-side friends!

Camping mama,

Mel :o)

Azriel the aviator.

So do you think this is what Amelia Earhart looked like as a toddler?

Either way, all I can imagine here is Azriel saying "to infinity and beyond!".

I thrifted this hat the other day in a paranoid attempt to ensure my daughter doesn't get pneumonia from this weekend's camping trip.  We're going with a crew of 13 adults and 16 wee ones from our church family (I did this alone with Azi last year... thankfully Ben is joining us this time)

.  I wanted a warm hat for Azi now that Fall is creeping into our bones... and for fun I added the extra 'goggle feature'.  Guess how many times I broke the thread (and then the sewing needle) before clueing in that I should switch to a leather/vinyl needle?! Oy.

And this, this is Azriel's face when mama says "smile".... I don't know where she gets it from. 

And that, well that's just the cutest mischievous aviator in training I've ever seen.

I think it's safe to say Azriel's entire outfit today has been thrifted.

And, since it's Thursday we're going to fly this post on over to 'Small Style' at Mama Loves Papa too!

Thanks for stopping in friends,

Mel ;o)