Easter - A Very Late One

But better late than never, I say! Because we were gone for Easter, I stubbornly wanted to celebrate it anyway and made big plans for an Easter get-together three weeks late. Odd, I know, but that's my personality for you!

So today we had a few of our friends with families over for a potluck lunch and egg hunt. It turned out so well that we'll just have to do egg hunts for the kids more often (just kidding). But it was really great - we had tons and tons of empty plastic eggs that we filled with jelly beans, chocolates, and other tooth-rotters and we hid them all along a trail next to our house. We had eggs up in the trees, in the bushes, and under leaves. Isabella was confused at first, but once she caught on she kept saying "huevos! more huevos!". There were five little kids running around frantically seeking out those little colored eggs - it made me so happy. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy holidays with kids?

As for the food...my friends went all out - there was moussaka, coconut chicken korma, mini-cheesecakes, treacle spongecake with custard, lobster salad, and nettle and feta savory pastries - to name a few.

Growing

Potty Trained!

This news deserves a post of its own. Prior to our trip, Isabella potty trained. She had been without diapers for a week and I thought for sure we would experience some setbacks while on our trip, but she stayed true to the effort and has been potty trained since the last week of March! This week I plan on freeing up a whole drawer of her cloth diapers and packing them away until our next little one :).

Scandinavia

the traditional Swedish Dala horse

A belated Happy Easter to everyone! We are home, and a good thing we came back before the Icelandic volcano blew it's top, because it sent so much ash over European air space that all flights around here have been canceled for days now. (Yet despite this ash cloud we have had an absolutely beautiful weekend! Sunny!).

Our trip to Sweden and Norway was lovely - we especially enjoyed Stockholm.

Pedro got his Scandinavian snow after all

In Stockholm, we stayed at a really fun hotel owned by ABBA's Benny Anderssen - so the whole hotel was done in hilarious 70's retro. The rest of our trip included eating lots of fish (Isabella was very adventurous), shopping in cool Scandinavian design shops (mostly for project ideas!), and walking, walking, walking. Our train trip from city to city was absolutely gorgeous and the countryside was studded with charming red and white houses and many, many tree-lined lakes.

this little girl is a great traveler!

Next time we're in that area we will definitely rent a cabin or something so we can experience more of the rugged beauty there.

Current Doings

these are some happy faces!

We went to a little wedding this past weekend. I think this was actually the first wedding Isabella has been to as well. She was so well behaved the whole time, even inside the ancient church where the ceremony itself was held.

Hemingford Abbots village where the wedding was

how sweet - i might not have caught this had i not been straggling behind in 4" heels

my girl and me

barely 7a.m. and she's already prepped for the paparazzi - thanks Auntie Lisa

We are about to leave for Scandinavia from this Saturday. I have been rushing around packing, finishing up taxes, sewing up last-minute orders, cleaning, and everything else that happens around here. Pedro and I are really looking forward to traveling again and this year may just be shaping up to be full of it (I hope!).

Less is More

Ok, somebody needs to tell my child that less is more. And it's not going to be me because I haven't really learned it myself yet. She's going through this phase of wearing every garment and accessory she can think of. In the photo above I think she insisted I put at least five hair ties in her hair. If she finds one on the floor, it's just got to go in.

I was supposed to have a lazy weekend but instead, I made marmalade. I have been baking so much I also broke my oven and my sink is backed up. On with the next project! This is what happens to ambitious people who stay home with their kids :).

Anticipation

from the barren looking earth, these tulips will soon explode into color

the tiniest iris I've ever seen

I threw this rutabaga into a pot a few months ago before it went bad - now look!

We had a "dinner party" that wasn't intended to be a dinner party last night. It just grew quickly. I was feeling partied out from hosting so many get togethers in the past few months and didn't want to do much cooking and prepping...but that's exactly what happened! I have absolutely no regrets - getting together with friends remains high on my list of things to do no matter how much work goes into it. And I always wish I could have had more people around the table. We had a couple of giggly little girls chasing each other around past their bed time, who shortly went down and let the adults sit and eat until well past midnight. It was the kind of evening that makes you feel so fortunate - which we are, and I am grateful every day.

This weekend I intend to do very little. Maybe a bit of tinkering with my sewing machine, maybe some reading...because the rest of the month is going to be pretty busy for us. Pedro has been incredibly busy at work and will be for some time. In addition to that, my birthday is coming up next week. There is a plan in the works to spend the day in London with my girlfriends next Saturday. The following weekend we have a wedding. And the following weekend we're heading to Scandinavia! More on that to follow soon.

In other news, Isabella seems to be in the middle of a growth spurt. She's suddenly taller and lankier, and is eating quantities of food fit for a teenager. Her energy levels are also oddly higher than normal - she's been climbing on the dinner table and getting into other typical mischief I thought we had just skipped over. She continues with this obsession with singer Rosemary Clooney (Mambo Italiano, and such) - I started it with over-the-top dancing and singing along and she really latched onto that! I'm hoping to get some video soon.

I hope everyone is experiencing as sunny a transition into Spring as we have been!

The Obsession

She raids my purse in search of either raisins or lipstick and always succeeds, one way or the other.

More Quilts

a decent photo of Isabella's birthday quilt, wrinkled and already well-loved

I've been keeping pretty busy now that my hand is mostly recuperated. I finished several projects recently, including the baby quilt you see below. I plan on listing it in my new online shop, which you can check out in the side bar :)! I am not a natural salesperson, and would actually prefer to just make things and give them away, but I really must fund my fabric addiction - which has now grown quite serious. So check out the shop if you get a chance - and tell your friends! (Just a note - my prices are considerably lower than my competition until I get more feedback from customers).

doing headstands before the Mardi Gras party that would land her...

...in bed for the next week. 5 families went down with that virus!

but there are sure signs spring isn't far - snow drops are coming up!

Since last week we have had a series of minor troubles, including stomach flu and loss of heating in the house. Thankfully, so thankfully, we have several good friends who have contributed space heaters (thank you Aneta!), showers (thanks AmandaBob!), and shoulders to pout on (everybody else!). Monday night, Isabella had a relapse with vomiting and mere minutes later we discovered our oil tank was empty (right after I said, "Brrr! Pedro can you turn the heater on it's freezing in here!).

I really, really miss American-style central heating. The mammoth radiators from my 100-year-old high school were charming, but in a modern home they just take up good wall space and are fed by energy I'm not accustomed to buying à la carte. We have three different energy bills - electric, heating oil, and burning oil for the stove top. British boilers are notorious for being temperamental and all of my expat friends with kids have had boiler problems this very winter. So boiler complaints + freezing temps + apathetic British customer service = cold, cold house for days and days.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Isabella!

The "2" totally looks like a "Z". Oops.

The big reveal, and my 2-year-old really likes it!

opening the loot

butterfly cupcakes with pretzels for wings

magnetic earrings that made her seem so much older

Isabella's birthday party was a hit last Saturday. We had the party a bit late so that the kids could come after nap time and the adults wouldn't have to rush off with testy toddlers by midday. But even though we scheduled the party for later on, literally everyone was almost an hour late. We were all in our birthday best, all the food was hot and set on the table, drinks were mixed, music was playing, myriad toys were ready to be played with....and yet, no one arrived for so long that I began to feel like this was going to be one of those stories I could chuckle at in 10 years, but for the moment tears seemed most likely. In the end, almost everyone came and the living room was packed to bursting (6.5 kids and 8 adults) .

We decided to get Isabella a slide for her big gift and every day since we gave it to her has been full of sliding. She even asks just to check and "see slide," just in case it mysteriously disappears while she's in the next room. A dream come true, obviously.

Cooking with Isabella

23 Months and the Countdown is On to 2!

the duvet of fun - excellent indoor game!

potty training is off and on at this stage

she likes to have a book propped up for her to "read" as she's falling asleep

sneak peak at her birthday present

the owl bookends I bought at the Cambridge Sunday market

the prism garland I bought for her even before she was a twinkle in my eye

Isabella and I just spent the most wonderful afternoon outside, now that the sun has come out and the air has warmed ever so slightly. We went for an hour long walk (sans stroller) picking up seeds, jumping in muddy puddles like Peppa Pig, and waving to every passing car (I think peoples' days automatically brighten to see a little girl waving hello at them). It's the kind of day that gets you making plans for spring.

I decided to take some photos of Isabella's room a few days ago after I cleaned and rearranged it. I would like to remember what it looked like before we eventually convert the crib into a toddler bed and make any other changes to it as she gets bigger. Can you believe it's been almost two years?

At this age, she is making lots of sentences, singing several verses in songs, doing her version of yoga with "'Maste" (Namaste) guy (I can't even believe she came up with that on her own) , puts herself in a time out if she's really freaking out...and the list goes on.

My Sweet Valentine

My hand is recovering, little by little, thanks to acupuncture and a serious increase in exercise (yay for Bollywood dance on cable) . Still hard to type so I'm doing as little as I can. The winter is starting to drag and it's getting hard to be creative with our time indoors. At the moment we're living for meeting up with friends as much as possible. Also, having fun trying new vintage recipes from my cocktail book, an ill-used birthday gift from Pedro last year (Sidecar anyone?). A bit tough to cook anything involving chopping, so this satisfies my kitchen ambition at the moment.

Isabella turns two in two weeks. I have so many ideas for her party but I'm not sure what I'll be able to pull off single-handedly (hardy-har-har!). Stay tuned!

The Year in Review

I intended to put this up around New Year's but didn't have the time until hurting my hand slowed me down last week. The video starts from Christmas 08 until about last fall.

First Sushi

We gave Isabella her first taste/meal of sushi (no raw) and she ate it with relish! And when we thought she would eat no more, she would start up again. She was all about the "dip it!" in the various sauces on the table. The nori (seaweed wrapper) didn't even bother her. She ate everything. We are so proud.

Playdough!

This is what Isabella did with her friend Kathryn when we went to London for our anniversary.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!