Live the life you love, love the life you live.

You will be missed Trish.
rip. xoxo

I've had a huge influx of Etsy orders (maps, seating charts AND paperdolls). I've drawn 6 maps, 2 sets of paperdolls and 3 seating charts -  and it is only April. Do you want to add to my madness? http://funkylindsay.etsy.com (or maybe wait a few weeks)

We have a walker! It started with just a few steps and in a matter of days Eli is doing laps around the living room, carrying objects, picking things up and pulling himself up without any help. He is so sturdy and so excited. Sometimes he gets a little too excited and tries to run. This has resulted in two fat lips, a bloody nose, a black eye and an assortment of other bumps and bruises. He barely crawls anymore.

I'm still loving being back teaching and I am working smarter than ever too. I carpool with a girl who doesn't like to get to school too early, I don't linger after school in the staff room after school to chat, I use very good use of my prep period, lunch and recesses that I don't have duty, and it is my 7th year in this grade. I am only doing school planning once Eli has gone to bed or Sunday nights when my parents arrive for their weekly reunion. The last two months are my favourite time of the school year because so much is crammed in such a short period of time. It is nuts, but I love it. (Medieval Times trip, Track & Field, EQAO, performances and assemblies, rumours about the next school year, and gym outside!) This year I decided to take a break from producing/directing an epic school musical - but I can't wait until next years!

I have 1000+ unread blog posts in my google reader, 15 unwatched tivo'd things, 6 games of words with friends awaiting my turn and personal blog posts swirling in my head. I have a slew of marvellous things I want to make and do. And emails to reply to and letters to write before June.

xoxo. Stay Tuned.

Since my maman is now at work every day teaching those cool grade 3s, I thought I'd start posting some blog entries on her behalf - to give you a sneak preview into the fun things I do during the day. I will let you know ahead of time - my preferred mode of dress is a diaper and socks. Pants and shirts are not required. Not only am I extremely stylish, but it keeps me cool.

Food is really fun to play with. I love all sorts of things but blueberries, cheese, apple sauce, cheerios and yogurt are my favourites. I can eat all of that stuff all by myself and don't need any help. I can use a spoon pretty well too, but it is much more fun to fling my yogurt around (so why bother?). I'm lucky that mom doesn't mind the mess too much.

I love books. I just love them. If I had the choice, I would choose a book over a noisy toy any day. I'll snuggle up with anyone to listen to a book and I'll even help turn pages for them. I love pictures of people the best, but anything goes. Mom says that I am going to know all of my print concepts before I get to kindergarten.

I have this toy that you hammer pegs. The pegs are ok - but they aren't that exciting. You know what is exciting? The hammer. I hammer everything. It makes cool little marks all over the shelves and it makes the best sounds on the floor. After a while. I've realized that I don't just need a hammer to make cool sounds. Some of my favourite sounds that I can make are bells, aluminum foil and shrieking. The sound of the toilet flushing is also really cool - and I've almost figured out how to make that sound myself!

Look at this pile of cool boxes I found! Dad set them all out at the door to be recycled, but he snoozed and lost - and I got some fun things to play with. FYI. Don't bother trying to taste cardboard. I did and it's nothing special.

I have a turtle tent in my living room. It is the talk of the town, really. It's one of my favourite places to read books. I also like to play hide-and-seek in it, and most of all it is a great place to take a nap. Napping rules.

St Patrick's Day 2011 and 2012.

Like last year, we had a green beer and lunch at the Hawg's Breath. There was a group of ladies all in green serenading us with traditional Irish tunes. When I'm older I want to go to the pub with 10 of my closest friends and sing for my supper. Eli loved it. Rob had a lamb stew and I had a Cheddar Ale soup, and we both enjoyed complimentary Guinness cupcakes for dessert.

We were dressed in green from head to toe and spent much of the day outside in this wild Ontario March weather.

Later that night we shared snacks and games and beers and laughs with some good friends.

xo.

I treated myself to a back-t0-school fuchsia Goodbyn lunchbox. It came with stickers. That is so rad.

This past Friday I participated in The Meal: the Art House Co-op's documentation of a global snack. People around the world took photos of themselves eating their lunch at noon. Everything is coming up lunch.

I hope to pick up some silicone muffin wraps (for extra divisions), cute picks (for grape kabobs) and little shape cutters (for cheese and bread) soon - just to add to my geekdom.

I was commissioned to create some typography for L's  playroom door (loosely based on some pins). I am really happy how it turned out. I liked the colours so much I made a smaller version for Eli's birthday inspired by one of the greatest musicals of all-time. xo.

xo Anne.

We decided to have a birthday playdate with some of Elijah's besties - brunch, babies and broo-ha-ha. We normally play together on weekends, so it was an easy fit. I wanted to share some of the crafty details with some great maman friends.

I made an awesome cake out of a tin can, some drywall compound, a little bit of paint and some sparkles. I didn't really want to give Eli a real cake to smash or eat, but I did want a photo op and a good laugh. I made a similar cake for our rehearsal dinner in 2007. A definite inspiration from Amy Sedaris.  I had guests write wishes to Eli and tie them to the candle on the cake. I'd like to do that for his future birthdays too. The wishes were very sweet and I hope that they all come true.

I made some CD favours (an awesome assortment of non-lame kids musak), a fancy balloon wreath for the door and tasty sugar cookies. I printed some monthly photos and strung them together in a garland-like way. I made Eli head toppers for all of the different food, updated my chalk boards and finished my baby book in time to share.

We served chocolate dipped bacon, yummy pear French toast bakes, pumpkin and coconut muffins, fruit & veggies and cheerios (of course!). Each dish was graced with a party hat wearing Eli head.

We tried the ancient Zhua Zhou birthday tradition of fortune telling - Eli chose calculator and then broccoli. That prediction leaves us with a nature-loving scientist (like his daddy).

And now, in honour of the past year, I am going to treat myself to a little charm from The Vintage Pearl.

I'm happy.  I've had an entire year of sweet baby love. I'm sad that he won't be a wee little baby much longer, but I am so excited for the adventures to come. Bonne Fête Elijah! xoxo

weight. over 20 lbs or something. You have your one-year shots next week.

height. Still short enough to stay in your first carseat

eyes. big, blue and sparkly. you rub them when you are sleepy.

hair. Red in some lights. It is pretty thin and you even have a bit of a curl at the back.

feeding. Your top teeth have cut. New foods you've tried since last time - salmon, noodles, green pepper, melon, chicken, mozza and cheddar, multigrain bread, "pizza", "muffins".  You seem to like it all but still like the boob best.

sleeping. Having a wee bit of trouble napping every day, but we'll fall into a routine soon enough once you figure out the packnplay business.

things you love. banging everything together, climbing stairs, climbing up on things, the toilet, taking a bath, talking, the washer & dryer, books, walking along furniture, laughing, being upside down, playing the cowbell.

things you don’t love. being sick, falling over

other [new] awesome things you do. climbing stairs (fast!), opening doors, walking along furniture, have full "conversations" with yourself (the occasional new sound too)

xo Elijah.