Using Up Fabric Scraps

I hate throwing throwing away fabric, it seems like such a waste to me. When I sew I always try to use up every little scrap that I have so that all my garbage can fit in one fist. Surprisingly, I can usually accomplish this.

After working on several sewing projects I was left with a little pile of fabric that I couldn’t think of what to do with. I remembered back to seeing a photo of a little Kleenex cover somewhere on the internet (no clue where). So with three small pieces of fabric I figured it out and in less than 10 minutes voila! (The ones pictured are from some scraps from Sarah’s bedding). It was so easy and fast that I ended up making a bunch of them in less than an hour. I know that one is enough, but it was just too fun. A pack of 8 little Kleenex packages were only $1. at the dollar store around the corner and the fabric, well it’s scraps! Anyways, I thought they were kind of cute and fun for the purse.

I’m always on the look out for quick little projects to use up fabric scraps, any other ideas? I’ve checked the internet and it’s full of many “not so good” ideas like light switch covers, appliqué for clothes, book covers, etc- yikes! Quilts are still one of the best areas to use up little scraps.

Yes, I know, I’ve got lots of time on my hands at the moment.

I’m loving it!

Playing with the Neighbour Kids

I've had the neighbour kids over for bits of time the last couple of days, before and/ or after school. We have established such a good relationship already that I am so thankful for. Their family has watched Sarah on several occasions and took care of Keisha while we were away last week. I've had their kids over here for periods of time here and there as well. It's been such a good situation.

Summer (the 9 year old) was asking me to take some photos of her for her facebook profile so we were having some fun with the camera. Such sweet kids! Summer loves it that I was a grade four teacher and sometimes comes over for help with school work. The other day we were working on her Mouse and the Motorcyle creative writing assigment (a book that I know all to well). She reminds me of many of my MEI students. I have so enjoyed all of our little 'chats' throughout the past few months.

Here's Tyler and Keisha. He adores Sarah and Keisha, and they adore him! It seems that he can do whatever he wants with both of them. He just cracks Sarah up and can make her giggle and smile so easily. The three of them are just too cute to watch play together.

First Time on the Swings

Yesterday the weather warmed up a little to plus 4, yahoo! With most of the snow melted and warmer temperatures it was time to go for a walk. I discovered a park just a 4 minute walk away in a direction that I hadn't yet walked. There were baby swings, a playground and water park. Sarah loved the swings! We're looking forward to summer, or spring for a start!

Our Caribbean Cruise

So I thought I would give a little more detail about our Caribbean cruise vacation.

We had a rocky start to the trip. On Saturday evening I opened up our tickets to check to make sure that our plane was going to be on time the following morning. To my surprise they stated that we were flying into Fort Lauderdale and not Miami, where the travel agent had said we were flying into. We went into a bit of a panic mode. But after some investigation learned that Fort Lauderdale is about 35 minutes from the pier (not 15 like Miami) and that we would have plenty of time to make the cruise, it just meant higher taxi/ shuttle fares.

Our flight was at 8:30 am Sunday morning, meaning that we had to be there bright and early. Well you could say that we were running a little on the late side to begin with. When we got to the terminal there was no one at the Air Transat counter. Yikes! It took a while to track someone down and discover that we were actually flying with Skyservice (which we had never even heard of). So by the time we got to that counter time was ticking and we were one of the last ones (if not the last) to be checked through. What a good feeling to be finally on the plane and on our way. At this point we were wondering what kind of trip this was going to be since so many things were going wrong.

Thankfully, everything from there was smooth sailing. As a side note, we visited our travel agent yesterday to explain what happened, they were just as shocked as we were. Apparently, the airline made last minute changes to where we were flying and with what carrier. The travel agent neglected to look over the final documents to notice these changes, hence the mix up. Anyways, they’ve agreed to cover the cost of at least half of our shuttle costs, so we’re happy about that.

Anyways, I can’t really say what a favourite moment was since the whole thing was just so great. We had a wonderful time with our friends Jon, Laura, Regan and Jen. They’re friends from our old care group that met us on the ship, too fun! The food was amazing, as always. The weather was fantastic! We had amazing experiences at all four ports. There wasn’t one day where we felt it was just so so. There was blue sky every day and warm temperatures. We were all burned by the third day in, some pretty funny tan lines too.

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Sarah was great and the whole experience of travelling with a baby was very positive. The fact that we were on a cruise ship meant that while we were on the boat we were always about 5 minutes away from our room. So if she needed a change, was a little fussy, needed a nap, etc we were always close to our room. This was so handy! I could leave from dinner and be back in a few minutes. We could watch a show and when she was just done I could take her back to our room. Having Sarah along meant early nights for me; I was always in bed (usually sleeping) by around 9:30. Since I do best going to bed earlier and waking up earlier, this routine actually worked out really well for me. Being with friends was great since David always had someone to hang out with if I had to go to bed with Sarah and he wasn’t ready for bed yet.

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Day 2- At Sea

One of the best parts of being on a cruise is the sea days. These are the days where you just take it easy and relax.

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Playing mini golf on the deck

The first formal night

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Day 3- Grand Caymen

The first port was Grand Caymen, Grand Caymen Islands. The first thing you should know about us is that we don’t do the whole planned boat excursion thing. We may one day, but for now we much prefer doing our own thing. We’ve become pretty good and doing a little research ahead of time and getting ideas for what we would like to do and what are fair prices. Doing your own thing saves a ton of money too (no surprise).

We’re not big shoppers, unless it’s little markets and local kinds of things. Being our fourth cruise, we had a pretty good idea what to expect. For some reason diamond stores are what are most popular at cruise ports. At every port we’ve ever been to there’s been a Diamond’s International store. Some “cruisers” are all about their jewelry. So we enter the ports with an idea of what we want to do and/ or see and don’t waste our time.

The 6 (7) of us decided to get a cab and go to the beach, costing $3 per person each way (Sarah was free). The beach was beautiful and the weather perfect!

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After the beach, Jon and Laura returned to the ship and Regan, Jen, David, Sarah and I went for a walk around the town. There wasn’t a lot to see but I was happy to pick up my token Christmas ornament.

Day 4- Roatan

The second port was Isla Roatan, a small island off the mainland of Honduras. There was really nothing in the port and the town was not the kind of place you would want to go for a walk. After checking costs we decided it was most cost effective to rent an SUV for about $80 for the day. So we headed to the other end of the island to West Bay beach. Our friends did some clear kayaking while David, Sarah and I relaxed on the beach and enjoyed the water (and our camera).

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After a couple of hours at the beach we got back into the car and drove around the island. I was so thankful to have David driving, I would not want to be the one driving on streets like those with the kind of drivers that we encountered.

Honduras was a bit of a rough place but it was really neat to get more of a feel for the actual island and not just the beautiful beach where all the tourists go.

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Day 5- Belize City

The third port was Belize city. After some pre trip research I was quite aware that the city was not somewhere that we would want to stay for long. There was generally a poor feel and nothing that really seemed worth looking at. Our group trusted my idea to take a cheap water taxi to an island called Caye Caulker. It was a 45 min boat ride and I was a little nervous that it would be all that it was cracked up to be. Thankfully we all loved the island!

It was one of those places that makes you feel like you’re in some kind of movie in a different time. It was the perfect honeymoon spot! There were no cars, just golf carts and bikes for transportation. Little shops, beauty parlors, Laundromats, hotels and market stalls lined the dusty sand roads. We didn’t see any other Carnival towels (the tourist indicator). It was definitely a place where a different slower pace of life existed.

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At one point David disappeared (we found him in the convenience store excited to have found cheap pop to buy). Jon went running down the sandy roads to look for him when he was stopped by a local and told to take his time and not run, it’s not what they do on the island.

After walking around the main part of the island, Regan rented a bike and drove around the island, Jon went wind surfing and the rest of us relaxed, went in the water and checked out the scenery. What a perfect place! We would love to go back there someday. Accommodations are really cheap and if you can get a cheap flight, you’re got yourself a really affordable vacation in a really out of the ordinary place (definitely not a Mexican all inclusive).

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Day 6- Cozumel

Our last port was Cozumel. Considering all the places that I’ve been, this was actually the first time that I have been to Mexico (not David’s though). Our friends decided to go on an excursion ATV’ing and snorkeling. While this sounded fun, it was definitely not Sarah friendly. So we set off to do our own thing. We ended up renting a car and driving around the island. We love driving and seeing new sights so this was perfect for us. We visited the Mayan ruins on the island, a Tequila plantation, several beaches, a little Mayan village and downtown. Sarah was able to sleep in the car so she was content and happy when we got out of the car.

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David spotted a blow hole as we were driving along a beach. He was loving getting a closer look! These pictures are so David.

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The first place we hit up in town was the grocery store. David and I have this thing where we almost always go to the grocery store first in the places that we travel to. First, we love food, second, it gives a true feel for the place and not just the touristy side, and lastly it’s the best place to buy food souvenirs. We were able to buy pure vanilla for 75 cents not 7 dollars like on the street and hot sauce bottles for 50 cents. Just can’t beat that. David also wanted to buy some good Mexican Tequila's. In the grocery store a bottle of the best stuff cost about $20 whereas at the duty free shops by the ship the same bottle was about $50. David was a happy man! He was able to get a few different bottles, all for a fraction of the price he would have paid elsewhere.

I found a great little Christmas ornament. Sarah got a maraca for $1 and we bought a hand woven bright striped Mexican blanket for $15, also much less than everywhere else we looked. We’re all about good deals and have no problem asking for a better deal or walking away from one that doesn’t seem good enough.

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The Last Day of the Cruise

On the last day of the cruise we took it easy on the ship, ate in the dining room for all our meals, went on a tour of the galley (kitchen) and went to another art auction. Going to art auctions is a little tradition that we have when we go on cruises.

Our friend Regan had won a karaoke contest earlier in the week so this evening was the big show. All of the karaoke winners were different famous singers. Regan was James Brown in the show. He was awesome!

We're Back

After an incredible vacation we're back home and back to normal life. If only we could have stayed another week!

Anyways, just thought I would write a quick post. I've uploaded lots of photos onto our facebook page, so if you haven't seen them yet that's where to look. For you non facebookers I will post some photos on here as well. However, it will only be a sample as compared to facebook. You could say this is the mini post before the actual vacation post. I'm not even sure where to start with the actual post. We took about 600 photos! have lots of video clips and many thoughts. Hmm.

After a week of temperatures between about 28-30 degrees we're back to -7 and snow on the ground. I've never gone away to a hot place during winter and must say that it was a wonderful experience. Travelling with Sarah went really well, it far exceeded my expectations. We had a fantastic time with friends (miss them already), saw lots of beautiful places and ate far too much amazing food. All in all, a perfect vacation.

Yesterday I spent the day doing laundry, cleaning up, organizing and uploading photos. I also met with my tutoring student for the evening to work on a couple of papers. Today it's the last of the clean up and some grocery shopping. Fun, fun.

Anyways, that's about it for now. I'll post our highlights, etc later today or tomorrow. Hope you had a great week!

Happy Valentines Day

Just one more sleep and then we're off. Sarah got sick yesterday morning so we're hoping for a speedy recovery and the non passing of germs. She has a really runny nose, is stuffed up and threw up quite a lot last night. Poor girl and such awful timing. So we'll all try to get some extra rest today and take it easy. Thankfully I finished all the cleaning, laundry and most of the packing yesterday, so it's just a matter of double checking the checklist one more time and then getting the car packed up in the evening. Can't wait...

Our First Born

Here's another one of those tags that I recieved about a week ago. I thought I would fill it out on here and use it as a blog post.

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED?Yes

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? yes, for 8 years

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS?Very excited and a little nervous about how a baby was going to change our lives, it’s such a big responsibility (a healthy fear).

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU?Not for a second

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU?28

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT?We were backpacking through Europe at the time. We were in a campsite in Rome when I took the test (I brought one just in case, since we planned to start trying on the trip). We must have conceived somewhere in France.

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST?David. I came out of the washroom and told him he was going to be a daddy, he was thrilled!

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX?No, we love surprises. David almost caved a couple of times but we stayed strong.

9. DUE DATE? April 3

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS?Not really, I was a little nauseous at times, but not too bad.

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE?Nothing

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST?Nothing that I can think of.

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? A girl

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?

No, we were both thrilled to have a girl.

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY?

Not sure, about 28

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?Yes, seven.

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW?Two of them were surprises and the others were not.

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY?no, it was pretty standard

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH?Abbotsford, in the old hospital.

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR?From the first contraction to the end was 21 hours, too long.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL?David

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?David, Dr. Shaw and the nurses.

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION?Natural.

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN?Just a shot of morphine and I tried some gas. The morphine didn’t seem to do anything and the gas made me feel sick.

25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?8 lbs 5 oz

26. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ?April 10, 2008 (1 week overdue)

27. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER?Sarah Lian Saysomsack

28. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY?10 months

Meeting for the first time

David and his little girl, just got home from the hospital

Well, I better get back to packing. I can't believe we leave in just 2 days! Today is do the laundry, clean the house and pack day.

Sharing with Keisha

Sarah loves her Cheerios. As I've written before, so does Keisha. Anyways, I was able to get a little video of the two of them. Keisha stands up and puts her head near Sarah's lap, which is where Sarah will sneak the dog little treats. I think it's pretty cute.

Clap Your Hands

I've been trying to teach Sarah how to clap her hands for a little while now, with very little results. I've come to the conclusion that kids will just do things when they're ready. Anyways, she has since become quite the little clapper. When I was loading this video, she was on my lap and when I played it she smiled and started clapping again.

Toronto Wine Media Event

Yesterday David went to Toronto as a volunteer to pour wine for all the wine reviewers/ writers. He takes every opportunity to learn more about wine and the industry. It's also a great opportunity to make connections.

Pictured with his classmate John as well as Erin (a wine marketing director in the area)

At the end of the event the guys were able to take whatever wine they wanted home with them (most of them were open bottles). So they took 5 cases home and divided it up. They recorked most of the bottles to preserve the wine for an extra couple of weeks. This would be the perfect weekend for a wine and cheese party. When else do you get over 30 bottles of wine to try, for free? The value of the wines and ice wines the guys took home is ridiculous, hundreds of dollars! If only we had our wine loving friends here. We couldn't help but think, if only we had Joel and Rachel to come up for tastings or Wes and Marie to help us out.

The room where all the writers/ reviers sipped and wrote all day.

These are 2 of the unopened bottles that David was able to take home, both ice wine. The bottle on the left is sold for $190. (just 325 mL) and the one of the right for $50. Crazy! The bottle on the right is actually a 1999 vintage, the year we were married. David had just been talking about wanting to get a bottle of wine from 1999, and here it is, free! We were thrilled, of course. We have both bottles opened as well, so we were able to try both of them last night. I normally find ice wine too sweet, but both of these were really good. I couldn't help but think of how could they would be drizzled over cheese cake.. yum!