Happy Birthday 2 year old!

Happy Birthday to my little Luke today!

I can't believe he's 2!! How does this happen so fast??

I can believe it in some ways, it takes a LOT of work to get a baby to two years old! As usual parenthood makes the seasons and years fly by but are filled with long days and even longer nights. Luke's been a wonderful baby for the most part, he's been at times my best sleeper, the worst listener, the most mischievous and the most adept climber. 

He loves to talk. Loves tractors and cars. He eats anything called a "cookie". Loves to read. He's also just a fun person to be around, which has got to be a major plus in a two year old right? 

God Bless my little lou! 

P.S. I've got 2 two year olds for a month-wish me luck!

Another completely-impossible-to-pull-off-in-Smoky-Lake-Alberta Outfit!

via The Sartorialist

Hello perfect outfit! Cable knit sweater and ridiculously awesome flouncy skirt?!

Really, I would wear this in a second!

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

In the interest of full disclosure I have to admit I was home schooled. And I may or may not have spent whole months studying Ancient Egypt. There is most likely photographic evidence of the giant map of Egypt I made out of some kind of flour mixture. I could go on but is this not proof positive of my crazy nerdiness?


And because of all the nerdiness I grew up with I still can't quite shirk my pesky interest in history in general, thus the reading of crazy biographies. This one however, was a great read even for those who previously have not devoted much of their precious childhoods to creating timelines of various ancient Egyptian dynasties. 


Cleopatra was a pretty fantastic historic character, thats why so many writers and artists have had a field day with her for over two thousand years. But Schiff does an excellent job fleshing out the massive amount of politicking and strategizing it took for Cleopatra to rule a vast and wealthy empire, seduce the two most powerful men of the day, give birth to four children, and function as an important god. Thats a lot of multi-tasking if you ask me. 


Schiff brings the history, as far as we know it, into clear sight with the importance of various decisions Cleopatra made throughout her twenty-two year reign. Her story is probably a little less romantic than Elizabeth Taylor and Shakespeare portray it, but not much. Schiff's writing is eloquent without tending towards the boring, she streamlines very efficiently, and hardly inserts feminist thoughts. 


Any reading of Cleopatra; A Life is not a search for virtue. This was an ancient queen living by very different standards in a pre-Christian pagan environment. But her impact upon much of classical art, poetry, drama, and of course, the Elizabeth Taylor epic, still reverberates today. Its always interesting to know the truth behind the character. 

Pears and baby issues.

via 

I tackled my 10 pound bag of beautiful Okanagan pears this morning. I tried some new recipes for pear sauce and ginger pear muffins and so far I think they both turned out really well! The rest we ate, and I sliced some up to freeze for when I have some time to make a little pear tart or something. We'll see if that day ever comes!

via 

I endeavored all this pear business while the kids were awake and functioning which means they all were vying to "help" mama. For some reason nothing gets accomplished if I let all three have chairs up to the counter with me so I tried to limit it to one chair this morning and "turns".

One thing about having three kids under the age of 4 is that the concept of "turns" doesn't yet exist. Everybody needs to have a turn at the same time. Two people will always be unhappy and pouting. There isn't too much patience and rationale going on to make the idea of "turns" seem fair or fun.

I'm still not sure if it would have been easier to just have three chairs everywhere and the whole kitchen to be a mess and hardly have gotten anything done. But where would the fun be in that?

Last week of October...already?!

via

Its the last week of October?? How did this happen so quickly? 

That means its less than two months till Christmas, and most frighteningly less than 12 weeks till I have to give birth! I'm already starting to be increasingly anxious about that fact. 

Our mornings are now brisk and frosty. The grass is still sparkling, but the sunshine is shining in so today has to be a good day!

We had a very busy and productive weekend, my husband went to town on our seriously disorganized basement and now I feel so much better about it! Why is organization so hard to do but feel so good? Its almost like exercising, except the feeling good part.

My new yarn for baby blanket take 4 has arrived so I'm going to crochet up a storm while watching football tonight. My little Lou turns 2 on Halloween so we're going to get some party things done this week...hopefully. I'm sure my list of to-do is longer than that but much more boring!

And have I posted this picture before? Because I'm pregnant. Thats a huge possibility. But I love how fallish it feels. Nice wide farmhouse floors, great white ceramic dishes in the background, completely simple and beautiful. Everything I want to wake up to!

If you need a good laugh...

I thought I'd write something serious but then I thought, hells no this is too funny to ignore!

I don't know about you, but tumblrs poking fun at celebrities can be funny sometimes, tumblrs written in the voice of Suri Cruise making hilarious observations of her fellow celebrity progeny is beyond hilarious. 

So go laugh at Suri's Burn Book! 

Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Sometimes its so nice to sit down to a good book with a good story. 


Not too sappy, not too "romantic", and at the same time not too heavy.


I just finished Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and I think it lands comfortably in this not-so-easy to describe category. Henry Lee is the main character of the book, who in 1986 has just lost his wife to cancer. He is challenged as to what his life will now be without his wife, and also how to continue his relationship with his only son, which has become strained through the illness of his wife. Against these current events, Henry begins  remembering a part of his childhood.


The book begins telling the story of Henry's youth during World War II while growing up in Seattle. He is the only Chinese boy at an all-white school until Keiko, a Japanese girl begins attending. The two strike up a strong friendship, both having to struggle being the only two people different from the whole school, and of course, battling the prejudice of being Asian while America was at war with Japan. The story quickly develops into a dramatic tale of Keiko and her family being forced to evacuate to internment camps with the rest of the Japanese population until the wars end. Henry, however, does not forget Keiko and their strong friendship and burgeoning young love.


I won't give anymore away, because the story is bittersweet and best enjoyed once the mood of wartime Seattle is established. The writing is well done, and the time period and topic so interesting. This book is a good one if you're in the mood for a good story!