Sunday: A Few of My Favourite Things

1.  How excited Baby J gets when it's time to go outside; grabbing his shoes and bringing them over to us.

2.  Baby J's meticulousness in certain things.  Example: lining up his cars and trucks, sometimes on the bench, other times on the coffee table, and sometimes in a perfectly straight line.  He is definitely our child (of course, there was never any doubt!)

3.  Reading, reading, and more reading.  I will never get tired of this part of our lives.  :)

4.  Lining up cars, trucks and trains at a friend's house.  I love this kid!

5.  Ah....sleeping baby.  This "favourite" will never get old.

6.  Old playground equipment.  Weren't those 'spinny things' banned years ago?  We LOVED them as a kid.  Of course, a photo with the boys was necessary as this may be Baby J's only chance to ever enjoy the thrill of the 'spinny thing.'  Who knows, this could be the very last one still standing in Canada.

7.  Day trips into the city to the Science Centre and to visit 'old' friends.  Don't the moving fish look fun?  Baby J sure thought so!!  The ramps were a huge hit too!

8.  The way that Baby J gets excited to crawl into bed with "Teddy" and "Bunny."

9.  Rain.  RAIN.  GLORIOUS RAIN!!!  Yes, it finally rained around these parts.  *happy dance* !!!

10.  A new homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe that Mr. vL loves.  His happy-tummy smile is totally worth it.

Happy Sunday!

Sunday: A Few of My Favourite Things

1.  Baby J's LOVE for reading.  

2.  Mmmmm....strawberries.  The satisfying tummy rub.

3.  J's love for pens and sneaking around in our bedroom.

4.  Baby J discovering that he can sit on his barn.

5.  Two words:  SPLASH PAD!!!!

6.  Watching Baby J chase (i.e. "speed crawl") after his friends on play dates.

7.  Spending the morning playing with Opa on his deck and in his garden, getting dirty.  Around this house, a dirty baby = a happy baby.  :)

8.  Teaching J how to go down the slide on his own, and then actually watching him shove off and do it!  What a smile of joy and pride that boy wore on his way down.  

9.  Helping Opa on the farm - Baby J waiting patiently in his stroller while we did so.

10.  Baby J STANDING up and WALKING on his own.  WAHOO!!!

11.  Spending the rest of the week trying to get Baby J to stand up and walk on his own.  He did not.

12.  Father's Day pool party and J's love for the water.

13.  A surprise visit at bedtime from Amma.

Have a Fantastic Week!

Sunday: A Few of My Favourite Things

1.  Letting Baby J play on the counter: he created a utensil 'forest' on our drying rack.  :)

2.  My sleeping babe.

3.  Opa and Baby J together.

4.  Watching Baby J drink his morning milk while standing at the coffee table.

5.  Spending a full day teaching kindergarten...then hearing from our babysitter that J signed "please" for her at breakfast.  YAY!

6.  'Arguing' with Mr. vL about whether Baby J's tooth has come through or not.  ;)

7.  Baby J standing confidently on his own Friday evening.  THEN, watching him dance at church, completely unassisted!

8.  Watching Baby J WALK for the first time tonight!!!!

What an eventful week we had!

Sunday: A Few of My Favourite Things

A few of my favourite things this past week:

1.  Trying to get Baby J to look at the camera, and in the process, looking away myself.  At least my growing ponytail looks cute!

2.  My boys.

3.  Construction outside our front window that entertained Baby J all day long!

4.  Mr. vL praying for Baby J to sleep through the noise of the construction...he did.

5.  Fruity frozen dessert that is finger lickin' good!

6.  Concentration.

7.  Our GIGANTIC rhubarb plant.  

8.  Going for a walk with a friend while our two boys hold hands from their strollers.

9.  Reading with Baby J and Mr. vL's teddy.  :)

Happy Sunday!

Sunday: A Few of My Favourite Things

Nothing too fancy this week, just my 'favourite things.'  :)

1.  My boys reading together.

2.  Baby J playing the piano.

3.  Playing in the snow.

4.  Planning a 'fancy' dinner for Valentine's Day with my handsome husband  (i.e. having an excuse to use all of those doilies I've been collecting)!

5.  Baby J's drool.  :)

6.  All the kisses I've been getting from J.  SO CUTE (and slobbery)!!!

7.  That Baby J understands several words now: dog = "gah!" cat = "ca!" car/truck/etc. = "cah!"

Yes, everything needs an exclamation mark at the end - he is always excited when he says one of them.  ESPECIALLY when he sees a dog.  Oh, and he has also mastered the "ooooo...." in regards to things that amaze him.

8.  The new recessed lighting in our living room!!  I am so thankful to have a handy husband.  

9.  Baby J's exploring nature.

10.  BBQ'd dinner with family on a Sunday evening

11.  Have a mommy who listens to all my 'mind jabber' and doesn't try to fix it all.

12.  Praying with my husband before bed.

13.  Praying with my husband, period.

Have a fantastic week!

'Sunday': A Few of My Favourite Things

The excitement of the Super Bowl kept me from posting this past week's edition of "A Few of My Favourite Things" in a more timely fashion.  What a busy, busy week!  As I began to write this post, the New York Giants had just won the 46th Super Bowl.  I cannot tell you who I was cheering for though, because well, let's be honest, I was cheering for the commercials!  (Sadly though, Canadian commercials pale in comparison to American commercials...I will have to look those up on youtube).

This past week,

1.  I finished painting our basement walls (more on that later!)  ... I cannot believe that this took me over a month to finish!

2.  We enjoyed our niece's 3rd birthday.  Have a look at the princess cape I made for her.  

3.  Baby J strutted his stuff in his Mother-Ease Cloth Diaper!  (BEST cloth diaper EVER....check them out!)

4.  My daddy stopped by with Wendy's chili for lunch.  Mmmmmm....yummy!

5.  Bible Study.  We are studying The Five Love Languages.  Last week we discussed "Words of Affirmation" and had agreed to write some words to each member in our group.  While I admire SO many things in each woman of our group, I did find it somewhat difficult to write these things out on paper.  It was a good lesson for me.

6.  Girls' Morning: curly hair and pretty make-up.  I wish I had taken a photo!!!!  Melissa, you did such a fantastic job.  One day I will find the patience to do my hair as beautiful as you did it...until then, you are fully welcome to come over every morning to do it for me!!  HAHA!

7.  Handsome hubby installed a fan for his best friend's parents.  (You are so talented...).

8.  My 'partner in crime' in the 'Green Clothing' Challenge visited for the morning.  We chatted the entire time that Baby J napped.  Later that week she dropped off some of her old clothing for me to try on.  Some of it fit perfectly (especially the bathing suit - and I had JUST been saying to my husband how I wanted a stylish one-piece for the summer).  Now it's my turn to go through my closet...this is always hard for me to do, but I know that it's time to part with some of those shirts that I haven't worn in two years, but am still convinced that I will "wear it one day."

9.  Baby J played with his cousins at my brother-in-law's house during the first half of the Super Bowl.  I love how babies gravitate to one another.

10.  J also gravitated to one of the baby's at church in the nursery, trying to hug and kiss him all over.  What an adorable spectacle.  

Have a fantastic week!

Sunday: A Few of My Favourite Things

We've been busy around here playing and learning with Baby J, enjoying the company of family and friends, and working on a plethora of creative projects.

To finish off a two-week stretch of excitement, here are a 'few' of my most recent favourite things:

1.  Eating waffles with my Oma on Sunday after church.

2.  FINALLY getting a 10 hour sleep stretch (for Baby J - not for us...) - it's been months!

3.  Meeting with a friend for lunch and laughing hysterically over J's spoon skills.

4.  Quietly observing Baby J as he discovers how to play with his trucks.

5.  Eating chicken wings for dinner...mmmmmm.....

6.  Planning for a spring church event with two amazingly creative women.

7.  Sewing a princess cape for my niece's 3rd birthday.  :)

8.  Enjoying a bowl of cereal on the couch with my husband for a few minutes before Baby J woke up (a very rare treat!)

9.  Praying with my husband.

10.  Fluffy white snow!

11.  Baby J experiencing the snow for the very first time in an adorable little Winnie the Pooh suit.

12.  Finding J's toys in my mixer.  Hah!

13.  The beauty of juxtaposition...

Have a fantastic week!

Sunday: A Few of My Favourite Things

What an exciting/fun/relaxing/family-oriented week we had!  We were able to make the most of our time together, working on projects, visiting friends and enjoying the snow-free weather (how long will it last??)

Here are "a few of my favourite things" from this past week (as usual, in no particular order):

1.  Starting a very time-consuming project on the basement walls - hand painting stencils.  I am only 1/4 of the way complete, but it already looks fantastic!

2.  Hubby taking Baby J to Grandma and Grandpa's for the afternoon so that I could work on said basement project.  :)  He is so thoughtful!

3.  Making crock pot chili...mmmm....chili (We JUST finished the leftovers Saturday evening, topped with fries and melted cheese.  A yummy, unhealthy treat.)

4.  Oma visiting for lunch and playing with Baby J.

5.  Sewing a happy polka-dotted apron.

6.  Picking up a discarded console TV and having my husband turn it into something fantastically functional!

7.  Baking cookies.

8.  CHICKEN WINGS.

9.  A two-hour afternoon nap.  Ahhhh....bliss!

10.  Dinner with friends from church.  They have four daughters, who all huddled around J, showering him with attention and kisses.  He was entertained all night long.  This evening also convinced my husband and I that we want a large family - it was just so much fun!

11.  A 'warm' Saturday (where does this weather come from?)

12.  Baby J's top four teeth finally coming through.  *Phew*  Sigh of relief!


It really has been a fun week.  I am excited to share over the next weeks some projects that we began over the holidays and are now slowly completing.

Happy Sunday Evening, and a blessed coming week to all of our family and friends.