3 Things That Make Me Smile

 Thing 1:

Watching my man cuddle our baby. It doesn't get much better then that.

Thing 2:

Bright, cheerful, groomed flower gardens at the park down the street.

 Thing 3: 

Kilmeny and Katelyn smiling, in each other's strollers on a recent shopping to New York. 

What things make you smile?

Welcome to My Kitchen

I made jam today. It was a first time experience of making jam with a baby. It was interesting and for the most part very enjoyable. Kilmeny was quite happy until it came time to put the jam in the jars. She started fussing, the jam was boiling, the lids were boiling and the jars were hot. I charged ahead and she quieted down. I walked her through the jam making process just like my Mom did to me, when I was younger. I'll wait till she can actually reach the stove top before handing her the baton completely.

 I had planned to pick the raspberries myself. I had found a farm near here and headed out to go berry picking. On the way to the farm, I saw another farm that was closer. I decided to go to that one instead. It just so happened that the u-pick was closed but the lady had a flat of freshly picked and sorted berries that she sold me for exactly the price I was planning on spending. Yay! I spent the time browsing Chapters instead of picking berries. =)

Raspberries are such familiar, nostalgia-inducing,sunshine-tasting berries.

The jars. All washed and ready to be filled. 

If you look carefully, you can actually see two white teeth on her bottom gum. =) My happy little kitchen helper.

I ate raspberries. She had a whisk.

Mmm. 

Filling the jars. The tea will be served with the jam and scones and clotted cream at a later date. 

All done. I'm so proud of my little jam jars. Don't they look great?

 Oh, heavens. That child can really move. Someone should tell her mother that she can get out of her exersaucer. Okay, she can't really get out of the exersaucer. She was on the floor and moved herself over to investigate from another angle.

Thank-you for visiting. My kitchen is now clean, my baby is sleeping and my man is home from rehearsal. Life is sweet. 

What are your favorite summer preserves? 

 Once upon a time, there was a little family. They loved each other and they loved their God. One day they took some pictures. And they thought they would show you. Because you would like them. If you like them, you can leave a comment. 

We like the pictures. A lot. We hope you do too.

my people 

Can I just say that I love what I do? I love being Jared's wife and Kilmeny's mom. I really do. I'm happiest just puttering around our little home, fixing this, tidying that, making it all nice. I love being a little family. 

I think I've been more grateful this summer for what we have as a couple. We have a stable, secure, loving home. We care about each other enough to say the blunt things. We laugh, talk way too late, enjoy yummy food, have lots of inside jokes, and we just really like hanging out together. Honestly. 

Every day isn't a little piece of heaven on earth. We are human, after all. And Kilmeny does fuss and wake up in the night. And sometimes I get tired of washing the dishes and the floors, again.

I don't think I'll ever forget something that was said to me when we were in New Zealand. We were visiting a community farm with our friends and talking with the owners. The wife of the owner said to me, "Congratulations on getting married." We'd only been married for two months so a lot of people said that to us. But this was different, her tone was so wistful and the look in her eyes went right to my heart.  She had two children and was in a relationship but she wasn't married. And then last night, we were talking about our life with one of the musicians and he said to us, with that same wistfulness, " you guys have a good thing going with your family life." 

And you know what? We really do. We have been privileged to grow up in families where marriage is a commitment you make for life, children are a blessing and relationships are important. That's normal to us. To a lot of people, that's unheard of. And it makes me sad. 

So, I love on my people. I ask daily of my Lord for help to love, for grace, for a smile when I don't feel like smiling. And for a love for those people who who don't know and don't have what I have. 

It's Friday evening here and we've got plans for the weekend. Jared has his one and only(thank-you, Lord!!) overnight concert tomorrow and Kilmeny and I are spending the weekend with friends. We'll be picking blueberries, laughing and talking. And on Monday we have a photo shoot planned at a castle. We've been talking about taking pictures there ever since we saw it and Monday's the perfect evening to do so. I'll share some of those with you, if you really want to see them. ;-) 

Love on your people, dear ones. And enjoy your weekend.     

all photos credit of my amazing husband

Excitement and a to-do list
 

I'm excited. Tonight I get to go see my favorite violinist play. He's sitting as assistant concertmaster which means I can see him really well from the front row. I will stay in the auditorium the whole concert long since Kilmeny will be spending the evening with some dear friends. I've known Liz basically all my life and so it's fitting that our daughters start their friendship as young as possible. I'm excited that we have friends that are so willing to watch our baby for us so we can have some 'just us two' time. 

The baby in question is now sleeping. I have a list that keeps on growing in my notebook/journal/planner (which I want to tell you all about in a post, someday!). I really shouldn't be on here when I have a list like that but in my defense it does say 'blog post' right on that list. And I didn't just write it now so I could cross it off. ;-) 
I  was a busy beaver this morning working on Kilmeny's scrapbook hence I have scrapbooking stuff spread everywhere which really should be cleaned up before I leave.

I have several different things I want to blog about, including my amazing younger sister who is due to deliver her first baby in a month. If you could pray for her, her husband and the baby, we'd all appreciate it. The baby is in the breach position and it needs to move. Thanks! =) Oh, their names are Caleigh and Stephen.

I love evenings like this when I get to get all gussied up for my man. I'm wearing a dress, something I don't normally wear when I have Kilmeny with me because as a humourous experience taught me, I can't feed her in it. At least discreetly. I'll stop there. 

I'll be spending a little more time in the bathroom, checking my hair, fixing my makeup and hey, I might put some sparkly stuff on as well.  

Okay, I need to run now. I hope all your afternoons are filled with excitement as you enjoy the moments!  

little girl on the move

Kilmeny has started to move! She's not officially crawling on her hands and knees, she favors the army crawl right now. And can she move fast! She fell off the bed and then the couch within the span of a half hour because we both thought 'she can't move that fast'. Poor baby. It's all part of the process. =) 

This is one of my favorite dresses for her to wear. I love the bright green with polka dots, the bright flower embroidery, the Peter Pan collar and the matching diaper cover. She just isn't wearing it in the pictures. ;-) Kilmeny was getting tired towards the end of the pictures. She kept trying to grab the camera strap from me and was frustrated that she couldn't have it. So I decided to try and get some shots of us together. It was, um, interesting. I put the best one up.

In other 'Kilmeny' news, we went to the babytime at our local library this morning. It was great fun. Kilmeny loved the songs and rhymes and watching all the other babies and toddlers move around. I had fun as well despite being at least 8 years younger then all the other moms. =) And now I'm off to do other computer stuff while Kilmeny naps!

Enjoy your afternoon!!

Kilmeny:

a girl and her exersaucer 

I realized that we had hardly any pictures of Kilmeny in her exersaucer and she spends a fair bit of time in it. It's borrowed from a friend for the summer and is a great source of entertainment for Kilmo. She is starting to move now so it is also a great source of containment. I took a bunch of pictures of her today in the exersaucer and around the house. She's wearing one of my favorite dresses for her, a gift from a dear friend. She'll outgrow it shortly so I wanted to capture her in it today. I took a lot of pictures so I'll spare you and your google reader and divide them into two posts. =)

She has this thing for the two flowers. She will often take them out of their places and proceed to either bang them against the side or chew on them or throw them on the floor. Once she has dwelt with the flowers in some manner, she is then content to play.

I love the way her feet are in this picture. It's like she's going to start dancing!

Adorable baby hands.

It wasn't easy getting her to smile at me, behind the camera but a lot of animal sounds and peek-a-boos later I got a smile.

sunday 

It was the day after a concert. We stayed up until 2 am the night before, talking and laughing on the couch.  Because we really like being with each other, especially when we've been apart all day and basically all night.

We slept in on Sunday morning. Sort of. The kind of sleeping in you do when you have a baby. 

  I made rhubarb muffins (thanks to my Aunt for the fresh rhubarb!), washed the peaches and poured the coffee. We had a couple hours before the rest of the string players showed up to rehearse for the gig they were playing at later that afternoon.

Then it started. 

The phone rang. It was one of the violists, she wanted to come early since she wasn't coming from her own house and it would be faster just to come here. I said yes. She used our shower and had breakfast with us. I love it when people feel at home with us to ask stuff like that. 

Kilmeny played on her blanket. I visited and cut out paper for my latest scrapbook page. Jared played music. Then the cellist showed up. 

I made fresh coffee. There were still muffins left. He helped himself. They discussed music. I cleaned up my scrapbook supplies from taking up the entire loveseat. 

The other violist arrived. She doesn't drink coffee and didn't want a muffin. They continued discussing their music. I put Kilmeny to bed. I moved myself and my stuff into our room. They practiced. It sounded great. They practiced some more. They all got changed into their black perfomance attire. They left. 

The apartment felt quiet and rather empty. I turned on the music, spread my paper and pictures all over the bed and made beauty. 

The afternoon got very long. And very quiet. I sipped on some cranberry juice, used up the last of my creativity and finally just went for a walk. 

Then Jared came home. And everything was so much better. We made plans to go to our favorite sushi place for a late dinner. We talked and laughed over our oh-so-yummy delicacies. And I kicked myself for not bringing the camera, the presentation of the food is impeccable. It was a fabulous way to end the Sunday and start the week. 

   

on my bedside table

There is a library just a couple blocks down from we live. It is one of the smallest libraries I have been in, it is also one of the cutest. The walls are painted a neutral sand color and simply decorated with quotes about books strategically placed on the walls of the library. I was pleasantly surprised that a library card is free and that they have a decent, up-to-date collection. But the best part about the library is that I can order books in from where ever and jaunt down the street to pick them up. 

Currently, on my bedside table or rather beside my bedside table, I have a stack of books that I am working through. Some are read while I am feeding Kilmeny, some are flipped through for inspiration and some are read a few minutes before bed. 

The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands  

She always wore Red

Ask SuperNanny

Ready, Set, Decorate! 

Decorating School 

The Survival Guide for Rookie Moms

  

And that pretty much sums up my reading interests and who I am. A wife, mom, and home-maker. I love my husband and my little girl so much and I love being able to be home and make it a haven for the three of us and whoever else enters. 

What's on your bedside table? I'm always open to book recommendations!  

And now I'm off to savor a cup of coffee and finish up some scrapbook pages while I wait for Jared to come home from the concert. I bought the coffee solely based on emotion. The blend is called Three Sisters and since I am one of three sisters, I bought that blend. Now before, you think I'm a total emotion-based person, I had to buy coffee beans and this blend just fit the bill. And my two sisters are together tonight so I'm drinking a cup in their honor. 

Enjoy your evening and savor the moments.   

Of moments and memories

Our bed is currently covered in all manner of scrapbooking supplies from paper to stamps to stickers and ribbons. The bedside table holds an album, my idea book, a glass of cold water and other normal bedside table adornments. 

This apartment is cute and artsy but it does lack certain things that would make life just a little easier. Things like a table. We eat our meals sitting on the couch, plates balanced on our knees. We use the computer desk to catch all those papers that seem to be always floating around. And I use the bed and bedside table to scrapbook on. It's all part of what makes life interesting. 

   I have discovered a new method of scrapbooking that works really well for me, here at this place. 

I do all my matching of paper with pictures and adornments at once. So I have all these little piles of 12x12 paper with 3 or 4 pictures, some stickers or stamps, maybe some ribbon and then I clean everything up until I want to assemble them page by page. It's all day affair as I fit it in amongst my other needful duties and delights.  It means that I only take everything  out once every couple of weeks. It means that I can easily transport a project to scrapbook with a friend, like I did earlier this week.  It also means that I can finish a page in a little window of time and hopefully get more scrapbooking done over the summer while still enjoying all the moments and memories of this time. 

And that to me is wonderful. 

of salads and wraps 

It has been hot here. I think you all knew that. I have been having great fun in the kitchen creating and making new recipes that don't involve turning on the stove or oven. At least for not long periods of time. We've been having a lot of salads for our dinners. I've come across some recipes that we both love. That means there is meat involved.

Our current favorites are Thai steak salad and Asian chicken and noodle salad. I admit I was drawn to them by the names, we both were. What can I say? They are both super easy, very tasty and filling. A plate of one of these is very satisfying. That would be a generous plate. The best thing about both of these recipes is that they can  be tweaked to your personal preference.

Our lunches often consist of a wrap or sandwich of some kind. However since my bread hasn't really turned out since we moved here, (I'm not sure if its the oven or the change in altitude or just what is, ideas are welcome!) we've been having more wraps then sandwiches. Growing up, I didn't care for wraps. Actually I didn't like them at all. I liked all the rest of my Mom's cooking! She's a great cook. :-) 

So it is only recently that I've delved into all things wrap-ish and I'm quite enjoying this delvement. I'm pretty sure that I just invented two new words there. ;-)

My favorite wrap would be fresh feta cheese, tomato, lettuce and Hungarian garlic sausage wrapped up in a sun-dried tomato and basil tortilla. Very yum. 

The wraps also make a great way to use up leftovers from the fridge or from last night's salad. I peruse the contents of the fridge, see what would go together (beans, rice, cheese and olives) and then put a topping on it (salsa and yoghurt), wrap it and serve. Inexpensive, healthy and no more little bits of stuff in the fridge. 

But sometimes you do need something that is familiar and warm. So that's why tonight's dinner menu is stir-fry over rice. Simple, tasty and familiar. 

What are your favorite summer meals?

 

sometimes you just have to dance 

The day was not going well. It was hot. Kilmeny was fussy. I was tired. It was only 10 am. I had to go to the store and get some chocolate for cookies, the only thing I needed to complete the recipe. I was going to sell the cookies in the afternoon. 

I didn't feel like doing anything. But I put one foot in front of the other and baked cookies, tried to cheer Kilmeny up and muster up a smile and cheerful spirit for when Jared came home. 

The cookies were done. I put some music on. I picked Kilmeny up. We danced on the hardwood floor. We both smiled. Then we both laughed. The music played on. The dishes were piled in the sink. The kitchen was hot from having the oven. Jared came home to a happy baby and happy wife. We all smiled. 

Sometimes you have to stop trying to get everything perfect and just dance. Sometimes I have to stop trying to be perfect and allow the truth of the songs to lift my heart to the Perfect One. Sometimes I have to cuddle my little daughter and treasure these moments with her. Sometimes I have to let everything go and smile because we're alive and we're together. 

Sometimes we just have to dance. 

    

photos: I looked through our picture folders to find a 'dancing' picture and came across these ones from our wedding, they worked. The top one is us and the bottom one is me with my sister's sister-in-law, got that? ;-)They are courtesy of Sarah Hainline, our candid photographer.