While I worked on this -- I am painting our lower kitchen cabinets in chalkboard paint -- Vivi sat quietly at the dining room table with her watercolours. I heard nothing but the clinky-clanky-swish-swish-swish of her paintbrush being dipped in the mug of water, presumably to clean it between colours, just as I had spent a great deal of time demonstrating to her. And then I got up to check supper in the kitchen.
Oh well, at least it wasn't as bad as this.
A hot-air balloonist in England recently discovered this meadow in the shape of a heart tucked away inside a stand of thousands of oak trees. Turns out it was made, secretly, by farmer Winston Howes, in memory of his wife Janet, who died of heart failure at age 50, in 1995. From The Daily Mail:
Mr Howes, 70, said yesterday: ‘I came up with the idea of creating a heart in the clearing of the field after Janet died.
‘I thought it was a great idea – it was a flash of inspiration – and I planted several thousand oak trees. Once it was completed we put a seat in the field, overlooking the hill near where she used to live.
‘I sometimes go down there, just to sit and think about things. It is a lovely and lasting tribute to her which will be here for years.’
He created the wood next to his farmhouse in the months after her death, marking out the massive heart shape with a large hedge.
The entrance to the secret heart is accessible only from a track leading up to its tip.
Mr Howes added: ‘We got people in especially to do it – there are several thousand trees.
‘We planted large oak trees around the edge of the heart then decided to put a hedge around it too. The heart points towards Wotton Hill, where Janet is from. We plant daffodils in the middle that come up in the spring – it looks great. I go out there from time to time and sit in the seat I created.’
Janet and Winston Howes.
Me, with my shadow. And my other shadow, and her shadow.
Luke: It feels like Sunday today, instead of Father's Day.
Steph: It is Sunday, honey. It's Sunday and it's Father's Day.
Luke: No, I mean it feels like Son Day. S...O...N... Day. Because instead of me doing things for Daddy, Daddy is doing things for me!
Steph: You're lucky to have such a good dad.
Luke: Yes, I am!
(By the way, we bought these personalized invitations from Lisa Kay on Etsy. I love how Sylvie's face appears on the little flower in the corner of the invitation and on a set of stickers we used on the favours and on her thank y0u notes.)
We found Vivi's Indian tea party dress for ten bucks at Kinder Klozet, a local children's consignment shop. The owner Lyn's good friend is from India and her father sends his granddaughter TEN fancy Indian dresses every Christmas. The tags were still on this one.
We were going to have her dress as Alice in Wonderland and I had a special blue full tutu skirt made for the occasion, as well as an apron just like Alice's, but Vivi took a dislike to the expanse of the skirt. (The outfit probably cost $100 in total and she preferred the $10 one -- take note, other mothers with Ideas.) I'll try to get a photo of her in it later, when she's up to it. She even has a pair of white gloves to go with it.
It's official. David is the best dad in the world. But don't worry, your favourite dad can be the official best dad in the world, too. After seeing a similar design for sale on a British site (at the scary, scary price of $41 plus shipping) I asked Lisa, the graphic designer who did Sylvie's birthday invitations, to make some up for me and she's now offering them to everyone at the bargain price of five bucks!
So Sylvie's having a vaguely Alice in Wonderland themed tea party for her third birthday this week, and I have been having a lot of fun planning it. Perhaps too much fun. One of the things I was most excited about was making (or ideally, having someone else make) this pink cake iced with roses (found here). I just showed Vivi the photo and she smiled and said she liked it but that she wanted a Barbie cake. Horrors. First of all just ugh and secondly I am not a big fan of Barbies. But it is her birthday, after all, not my own personal fantasy extravaganza tea party day. Do you think I could get away with cramming a Barbie doll into the top of that thing?
We seem to be talking about breastfeeding and birthing here all the time lately, weirdly, since we are done with that phase. But the kids are still very interested in the subject and clear information and a healthy attitude about the whole thing will help to prepare them for their own future families. I just happened upon these Mamamor Dolls and I think they are hilarious, adorable, and informative. The babies have little snaps for mouths that attach to nipples, also made out of snaps, on the moms. (The designer should consider using pink, red, and brown snaps instead of silver ones, though.)
Some of the dolls also show how the babies are carried in the moms' bellies and how they come out. Some of the babies come complete with detachable umbilical cords and placentas.
There are even VBAC dolls, which also have a slot in the stomach through which the baby can emerge. Which reminds me of a conversation Luke and I had on the weekend. It was the kind of conversation that should have been an exchange of information expressed in a matter-of-fact, healthy manner, but it got away from me.
Steph (witnessing Luke putting shreds of a red balloon that has burst into his mouth): Luke! Never ever ever put pieces of balloon in your mouth! They can get stuck in your stomach and KILL you. And especially not red ones! A surgeon won't be able to find the red pieces in your stomach because they look just like blood and all the other stuff inside you.
Luke: How about if I chew this yellow one? Yellow wouldn't be hard for the surgeon to see...
Steph: Absolutely not! I don't care if yellow is an easier colour for the surgeon to see. It is NEVER a good thing if you have to be cut open.
Luke: All girls have to be cut open when they have their babies.
Steph: No they don't. Just sometimes, when the babies won't come out their vaginas. And it is NOT a good thing.
Luke: Ewww. They come out their vaginas?! Ewww. I came out your VAGINA? (starts laughing)
Steph: No, you did not. You wouldn't come out properly so they had to cut my stomach open and take you out that way.
Luke (still laughing): I came out your vagina! Ewww!
Steph (laughing too, but getting annoying and starting to shout): No! You DID NOT COME OUT MY VAGINA!
David (entering the room, says mildly): Well, now the whole neighbourhood has that clear.
Luke (continuing to snort and giggle): Did you come out of your mother's vagina?
Steph: Yes. Yes, I did. (muttering) Everyone comes out of their mothers' vaginas and it is natural and beautiful. That is what the vagina is for.
Luke: But you just said that I didn't come out of your vagina.
We got this fancy dress at the Giant Baby and Children's Sale last Saturday for 4 bucks and it may very well have been the best 4 bucks we have ever spent. Vivi has worn it pretty much every day since then. This is the selection of jewelry she almost always wears with it. The pony bandaid is a deliberate choice. She asked me to take pictures of her in this outfit today. The pursed lip thing is something I'm afraid she picked up from me when I look in the mirror.
This is one of her more artistic shots. When she viewed this photo, she expressed displeasure about the slightly rolled sock so please keep that in mind when judging the styling here.
Anguish.
During the shoot, she inexplicably ran to get a comb, which she matter-of-factly inserted in the keyhole and proceeded to pose next to. During further discussion I gleaned it is supposed to be Alice's key.
Fiddling dramatically with the "key."
Pose with light switch.
Solitude.
A slightly Toulouse Lautrec effect.