Our stay-home getaway

Unlike the regular routing, this year's 4th of July parade was held... on the 3rd. After the parade we had a nice family/friends barbeque at my hubby's aunt and uncle. As planned, our princess spent the night at their place and they all headed to Virginia to spend the day on a farm. Yay! Free time for mom and dad!

We were hoping to take off somewhere overnight. As it turns out, we couldn't find a last minute getaway but we still had a great time. First we had dinner at a cajun restaurant. Just the two of us. Our daughter is well behaved and we gladly take her along to the restaurant... however  it tends to kill the romantic side of things. Anyway nice dinner, great evening. Then this morning we did a spur of the moment thing. We are watching CBS' Sunday Morning show on TV while having breakfast. One of the topics this week was the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in DC. And we just decided to go. Just like that. So and hour later we are on our way to DC (Ok it's only a few miles away, but not an expedition we would undertake without planing if out little one had to come along). The exhibit was great, we plenty of time to enjoy it and check out other area of the the museum. And cherry on the cake, the Air Force Jazz band was playing in the museum's courtyard. Very cool. 

We headed back home before things went crazy with people heading to the fireworks. 

Back home we tidied up the house and had another nice dinner together on the back porch. Then it was back to reality. And the great feeling of those little arms around my neck.  I did miss my munchkin! 

Tomorrow is going to be a slow day. Shopping, cleaning, laundry all done already. If it's not too hot in the morning I might try to tackle some gardening. We'll see. 

Pea, strawberry and moojacks

You learn from your child everyday. I learn even more everyday as my child is growing up in a different country than I grew up in. You grow into a parent, a more patient, more open person. And then there is the added difficulty of my child language challenges. I learned that a "Happy to you" is plenty when "birthday" is in the heart. I learned that any red berry is a strawberry. I learned that peabutter contains peanuts and is spread on toast. I learned today that moojacks (wheat chex for you and I) are just the thing for breakfast. 

Today was a pretty good day at work. Everybody finally calmed down after the frantic activity to close fiscal year on June 30th. Everybody was on long holiday weekend mood. I wish people were this relaxed every week. I'm sure we would get just as much work done, and do it without a constant stress induced heartburn.

I also upgraded my iPhone (the software, not the phone) and I love the new features. Especially the apps groups. Yay for decluttering. Also love having a picture of my princess in the background all the time. 

And then, super weekend last minute bonus, tomorrow night our muchkin is spending the night (and the sunday) with her great aunt Joan. Desperately looking for a last minute overnight getaway for the hubby and I. Easier said than done on the eve of a holiday weekend!

Pretty

Busy schedule

It's been a busy couple of days. This weekend we had a very nice dinner with a French friend recently moved to the US with his American wife. They have a sweet 2-year old boy and are expecting a baby girl any day now. Steak on the grill, pasta salad and corn on the cob. I made a peach and raspberry clafouti for dessert that was quite the hit too.  Of course as soon as we got home I had the itch to make something cute for their little Juliette. So I dove in mu stash again to find the right fabric for the project.

Then Sunday, I was thrilled to be able to spend some time with my friend Denise. She is still recovering from a horrible car crash and is finally well enough to drive. We had great breakfast together, caught up on a lot of things and spoke chiffon. Denise used to have a clothing shop where she sold her creations but had to let go of it years ago. She is now thinking about going back to sewing and maybe setting up an Etsy shop. So cool ! Then we went to see "Knight and day". We  had a lot of fun and I got home just in time for Kaylee's birthday party next door. The rest of the Sunday is a blur as I had to catch up on all the household chores set aside to meet with friends. 

Yesterday was an OK work day. I got home with more energy than I've had in weeks. I made some baked tomatoes stuffed with couscous and topped with a thin slice of grilled mozarella cheese and some Provence herbs. Simple, healthy and delicious.  In the evening I got started on the dress of Juliette.

Today again an OK day. I was greeted by a surprise in my front yard: 3 years ago I planted some bulbs and the past 2 summer all I got from it was a lot of green. Finally this year something else.

 Also enough energy for some decent cooking: Cajun chicken with rice and pineapple. Hubby loves it!
More sewing tonight. The dress is starting to take shape. I still have to stitch the straps and the back and some finishing touches. I did play a bit with my sewing machine decorative stitches.

How cute is that ? 

Survived

I survived the week... barely. Every night I got home a bit more exhausted than the previous and woke up barely rested from a really short night after  hours of tossing and turning. At least for the first time since March the workload is back down. For a lot of our customers this is the fiscal year end. They are closing the books, the budget is spent, if they have plans to upgrade or install new software it's going to be with next year's budget... so next month at best. For my team it means things will be slow until mid-July. I admit the whole team has been welcoming the change of pace.

On the home front not much got accomplished this week besides sewing for Kaylee's birthday present. Too tired to even cook. Tomorrow, the usual menu : cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry. I also have to do some baking as we are invited for dinner and I promised to bring dessert. I'll shoot for something simple for sure. 

Serious about cuteness

I was not really planning to finish Kaylee's birthday gift tonight. I was planning to watch a bit of a movie with my daughter then to sew some. Then my plans had to change because of this :

My daughter, her blanky and her beloved ducky, crashed in my bed.

Grabbed the kid and tucked her in her bed then on with the sewing. All done. I think I did OK in the cute department. I'll let you judge.

I bought some plain onesies and socks, added a little skirt with lace at the hem on the onesie, some lace at the cuff of the socks and made a matching headband. 

One more done.. and more to go

Today was my first time back in the office in almost 2 weeks. Last time I was there was a big fat bust, I was still pretty shaken from my grand mother's passing. Thankfully my boss is understanding and accommodating and let me hide home long enough that I'm OK with the daily frustration and stress that comes along with the job when you have to go to the office... especially MY office. So this time it went mostly OK. I didn't loose it. I just hid in my car during lunch to avoid visitors/well wishers/gossipers. Got back home pretty brain fried though. Just to give an idea, I prepared the coffee machine for tomorrow morning and ended up pouring the water AND the coffee ground in the water tank. Oops. I did get it right the second time around but this could have been messy. 

I did manage to tackle a little home improvement project tonight: last fall we had our postage stamp sized backyard which was also a permanent mud pitt converted into a paved terrace. I built a ledge in front of the access gate so that it is easier to access. Next weekend, I will get some sod to fix up the slope in front of the step... and it'll look much prettier.

Then I went through my fabric stash looking for a cute print to make a present for my neighbor's granddaughter Kaylee who is turning 1. I can't make up my mind which fabric to use or what to make but this is what I dug out for it.

Father's (and mother's) day

Father's day. My hubby is great everyday. 

Every weekday, he is in charge of getting our munchkin up and ready for school/daycare while I (curse of a fulltime working mom) am already gone to the office. Everyday, he earns his great daddy badge in my eyes. And there is no doubt our little one worships her dad. 

So today my guy got a new fancy coffee machine to make his mornings (and mine) a bit easier. It was on sale so we got the fancier model that also warms water for tea. That's a feature his mom, who is a tea aficionado, will absolutely love and my mom who drinks instant coffee will also find handy. For my part I like the idea of not having a pan permanently resident on the stove while they visit. 

Bonus for grand mothers :D

This afternoon, the hubby put the final touch to my creative space: He finished the under cabinet lighting. Fabulous. I have now a great light to cut, sew, blog (and work ...). So it's a bit mother's day too .

I could not ask for a better guy :) : Happy father's day !!

ADHD and OCD ?

We have known for a while that my daughter is not exactly like other kids of her age. She is very smart and creative. She has fantastic problem solving skills but she also has what the team that evaluated her called atypical development. She has a lot of the typical skill of a kid her ages but her mastery of language is not quite where it should be. Being raised in a bilingual household is definitely one of the factors but she also has a lot of troubles focusing and keeping still which makes learning  a more difficult. 


The hyperactivity and lack of focus (a bit early to  dub it ADHD) is a challenge at school and of course at home. I have already mentioned the school uses a lap pad to help her settle down and I made some to use at home with great success on the fidgeting. But there are other stuff my 4-year old daughter does that have me wondering me what is going on in her head. When she puts away her crayons, all the tips are pointing in the same direction, and then there was the Playmobil all lined up in their little house:

 or the foam letters on the shower tiles .. Not sure what to think 

On a roll

I'm on a roll. Lots of sewing this week. 

First the weighted lap pad, transformed into fish lap buddy on Wednesday night

Then on Thursday night, another weighted lap buddy : this cute snail.

Last but not least, last night a pad for my kitchen table so the oil cloth stops slipping (tested this morning at breakfast and works great !!) and a little sun dress for my princess. She loved it so much she had to wear it this morning. Brownie points for Mommy