Then there were five........

Yes it's true, we've added a member to this little family of ours. After much discussion over the past months (and years) we finally decided it was time to adopt another Schnauzer. So here's our new puppy, named Lucy, and all her cuteness....




To say that we are happy to have her is an understatement. In fact, Grace is simply over the moon with excitement!

Monsterly Names

The illustrations in children's picture books often provide inspiration for Grace. She always has a mental list containing numerous sketches she wants to complete based the the wonderful art she's seen in them. This latest project was no exception.

On the cover of the book, "Mostly Monsterly" (written by Tammi Sauer and illustrated by Scott Magoon), each letter of the word "mosterly" was drawn to look rather mosterish (i.e. with fur, crazy eyes, sharp teeth). Upon seeing this, Grace was inspired to sketch her name in a similar fashion. So out came the drawing board, pencils and paper. A short time later.......




Grace's name was perfectly monsterfied!

Carrots from the Garden

Despite being covered, our raised beds suffered significant damage during the first frost of the season. The eggplants and tomatoes were the hardest hit, while the carrots, broccoli and kale didn't seem to mind the cooler temperatures one bit. With the carrots being surrounded by a withered mess we decided a do-over was necessary. So, out came the carrots (perhaps prematurely) along with the damaged plants giving us the space to resow the bed this weekend.




They were small in size, but certainly tasty none the less. Perhaps we'll have better luck with round number two!

Pop's Birthday

We spent our Saturday helping Pop celebrate his birthday. The day included a boat ride (in which we saw porpoises, quite exciting I tell you), having pizza for lunch, watching football, then eating homemade cheesecake for dessert. Oh what fun we had!






Happy birthday Dad - we hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did!

Holiday Handmades

Grace and I did quite a bit of merry making this year. It's always a bit challenging to share what we're up to prior to the holiday since the recipients would see their gifts prematurely. So here, before it gets too much further into this new year of ours, is some of what we made for those we love.......


Grace's Piano Concert DVD (in which she's playing twelve holiday songs) packaged in a pouch that we made from the results of our first ever tie dye project


A bottle of "customized" wine for Dean from Sophie


A pouch for Meme to safely store her protein bars


A knitted blanket for Sophie


And lastly, cookie boxes filled with sweet treats for family members

There you have it, our holiday handmades!

New Year's Day

To welcome this new year, we headed to Bayfront Park for a leisurely morning walk. I often find that I take our surroundings for granted, forgetting what a beautiful city we live in. One of my goals for this year is to enjoy and embrace where we are now, still hoping that one day (perhaps in the very distant future) we'll have our little farm that I frequently dream about.

Our morning at the park was perfect - the sky was a vibrant shade of blue and the air was crisp. Grace had a great time romping around the life-sized art sculptures, while Sophie sniffed every blade of grass in sight. While there, we made great attempts at taking a decent family photograph, but the one below was the best we could get.




So here's to embracing where we are in life - from where we live, to our careers and every nook and cranny between. Happy 2012, may this be a wonderful year!