Entering contests

You can follow along if you'd like ;)

Simply a music blog has a palm tunseng e2 pda up for grabs.

Jackie's thoughts is giving away a pair of See Kai Run shoes

Mod*mom is giving away an Alexander Girard Flor rug

Smother them with love

We were at the big park this past weekend and Kiernan was having a blast on the ENORMOUS play structure - along with about 50 other kids. After having come down the slide for the umpteenth time and yelling "AGAIN!" he almost ran into a kid who was quite a bit bigger, but probably only 2-3 years old (and who, I was told after, Kiernan had had a bit of an encounter with up on the structure earlier where the kid had been purposely blocking his way until stopped by his dad). So Kiernan almost runs into this kid but stops in time and freezes and looks at the kid as if he's kind of afraid of him. Then he slowly started inching towards the kid, then leaning.... and he gave him a hug!

The other kid looked surprised, then hugged back. And when the hug was done, the little boy looked at his dad, and exclaimed in wonderment "I MADE A FRIEND!!!" Seems like Kiernan's survival instincts are telling him love will solve conflict! :)

I buy Canadian!

The Ultimate "I Buy Canadian" Blog party is on!!



There are many good reasons to shop Canadian and they range from it being better for the environment (less fuel to transport goods) to lower shipping cost (by the way, free shipping for Canadian at Apples'n'Oranges until July 2 with coupon code shipcanadaday), to encouraging our local economy.

Tons of these reasons are good, and I consider them all to some extent. But I'll be the first to admit, I still shop at Walmart and I still look for the deals that buying from China can give me, but, when I'm looking for something different; something special, I prefer to support small businesses - particularly local ones, and Canadian ones. It's generally cheaper (yay) and it makes me feel good to help out the little guy. We as Canadians have so much to offer and we need to be RA RA RA about it!

Check out the sites of some of my friends who are Canadian and have created fabulous businesses. It may not always be as cheap as Walmart, or the Superstore, but it'll be better stuff, the people you'll deal with will be nicer, and your purchase will be significant enough to help create success for the owners.

Jewellery by Erin
Posh Kids
Daisy Blue
Stork Baby Boutique
Milkface
Blue Jean Baby
Gymboree Play and Music - American company; Canadian franchise owner
Baby Be Green
Peekaboo Beans

Not to mention my own Canadian store ;) Apples'n'Oranges

Big news - like really big

This week had enormous significance for me - like REALLY BIG things happened. Check the a'n'o blog to see why!

Wordless Wednesday - what do you mean this isn't how this works?

Dont miss our contest!

Haircut time

Hello, my name is Hairy McSillyhair.

So we went and checked out the new Melonhead at Place D'Orleans this past Sunday.

The rides were fun to sit in - but Kiernan is getting more nervous in his old age.
Bubbles made it kind of better - but really, the clippers were a little too scary to deal with.
So much better now - even if he is giving us a VERY serious look.

If you enlarge the photo you might be able to see the blue spikeys they put in at the front ;)

Kman idiosyncracy #2

There is a scene we are very accustomed to seeing when Kiernan is ready to be liberated from his crib:

Everything must go on the floor, well everyone and all the suces (of which there can be up to five ;)
If by chance we go in there to wake him up, most of the time his initial response is to pick something up and pitch it out of the crib before you're allowed to take him out. If he hasn't pitched something out, it's just not time to get out! Mister weirdo ;)



One of his beloved friends on the floor is one I've been meaning to post about for awhile. Elephant (we aren't so good with the creative names around here ;) was made by Jenn from Life on the Roof when I won her contest. She makes really great jean quilts AND her blog is really great too - go say hi :)

One must suffer to be beautiful

The other day Vicky wrote a post about something she noticed when we were in an office building with the Apples'n'Oranges booth. I was there again this week and it really is a great place to observe! This time what really struck me is how many women are wearing shoes that they aren't comfortable walking in.

So here's the thing - if you aren't comfortable walking in them, you aren't suffering to look beautiful, you're suffering to walk like a dolt!

And I can't blame them for having a hard time walking - I couldn't walk in something that looked like this either!


I mostly wear flats, but I have worn heels and wondered from time to time if I'm walking awkwardly - I think I'm going to assume that I am from now on if the thought even crosses my mind and skip the shoe. Because I don't care how gorgeous the shoe is, if you're wobbling around on them, they lose their value man!

The Ultimate “I Buy Canadian” Blog Party

Have I told you about the awesome contest we're having at Apples'n'Oranges yet? Not properly so here I go ;)

The Ultimate “I Buy Canadian” Blog Party

A) Post this button on your blog starting now to help us promote the contest and get an entry for a prize (just email info@apples-n-oranges.com or leave a comment on the Apples'n'Oranges blog to let us know you've done it)


<br/><a href="http://shopapples-n-oranges.blogspot.com/2008/06/ultimate-i-buy-canadian-blog-party.html"><img border="0" id="The Ultimate 'Buy Canadian' Blog Party" width="184" height="184" src="http://www.apples-n-oranges.com/images/blogcontest.jpg" /></a><br/>

B) Write something about why you shop Canadian. You don't have to shop Canadian all the time, but do you think buying from Canadian stores, or buying thing specifically made in Canada is important? Why? It doesn't need to be anything long, we'd just love to hear what you think. And if you tell us, you'll get entered to win some fabulously amazing prizes! Dude, we have so many prizes!!

-Apples'n'Oranges $100 gift certificate

-Peekaboo Beans girls' Mame Tee and boys' Koi Tee (your choice of size)

-Pippalily sling in your choice of fabric and size

-A custom designed t-shirt from Red Fish Kids

-A six-pack of hairclips and a headband from Bugalug

-A stuffed creation from Fabricawakuwaku

-A pair of squeaky shoes from Little Squeaky Feet

-A pair of shoes from Little Soles

-Baby shower cards, birth announcements, thank you cards and mommy calling cards from Kanvas Ink.

-A tie shirt from Rock and Rattle

- An apple dress from Fig Organic

-Jewellery from Jewellery by Erin

- A nursing cover from Small Potatoes

C) Post what you think on your blog and link back to us (and email us to tell you you've posted, we'll link back to you) or, if you don't have a blog, email us your reasons and we'll post them on our blog.
D) YAY CANADA! :)

Wordless Wednesday - Yummy popsicle

Canadian? Don't miss out on this awesome blog contest to celebrate Canada Day!

Contest winner

Erin won the random draw for a coffee cup holder. I still can't decide on a name for my sewing blog *sigh* despite all the fabulous entries (thanks guys!) so I'll have to keep pondering. For now I started a very very basic etsy store with no clever name.

Congrats Erin!

Bluuue

Yesterday we were over at Vicky's celebrating her very exciting graduation for teacher's college!! Yay!!

I can tell I'm a mom now though because I don't think I got pictures of adults unless then got in the way of my shot of some child ;)

Popsicles were a huge hit. Kiernan picked his favourite colour - blue! (these photos don't remotely do his blueness justice ;)



Do you get the feeling our graduate has already had this lesson and picked a much safer colour for Joel? ;)

Kman idiosyncracy #1

It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I realized it was fairly common for kids to have interesting idiosyncracies - habits, preferences, etc that seem to come out of nowhere but that are really important to them. Kiernan has a few and I've decided they will make excellent blog post fodder.

Kiernan has a thing about socks. First, he prefers to always have socks on (although that's changing some now that it's sandal season). If he's walking around barefoot he asks to have socks put on if .

The other day, he found one odd sock and requested it be put on. Eric explained he needed two socks so Kiernan and trotted off to return a few minutes later with a second sock. Since he HAD brought Eric the two socks he told him he needed, he was indulged and had them put on - and then he was happy as could be:

give away weekend

This weekend is the time to declutter the house by sticking all the things you don't really want around on your front lawn! Saturday and Sunday everyone in the city can stick their unwanted "stuff" on the lawn and then you can go around and troll for stuff you might want!

We're planning on sticking a few gems out there - some free weights, a coffee table, this super cool dresser I started sanding but will never ever getting around to finishing, and maybe some other random stuff too.

So, troll around and find some stuff you might like to have, instead of buying new stuff (RE-USE) and don't just throw out stuff you don't want - see if anyone else might like it.

More info on the program can be found here: http://www.ottawa.ca/city_services/recycling_garbage/giveaway/index_en.html

Check this out!

Today I decided to try to create something I've seen online - a car garbage bag. It's a bit simpler than some of the ones I saw but I think it serves its purpose quite well and I'm thrilled with it! I even made two! (I really need to set up an etsy store ;)

Hang it from your gear shift (or whatever you call this on an automatic)


or hang it off the back of a seat for passengers in the back.

You can also put a plastic bag into this if you think that will make life easier or if you're going to have wet/sticky/messy garbage.
Seriously - this rocks eh? :)

New blog, a contest, and another sewing project

Perhaps I'm feeling overly ambitious, or perhaps I just feel guilty putting so much sewing stuff on a blog I feel is meant to be more about all things motherhood but I've decided I want to start another blog for my sewing projects.

Sew I'm having a contest (har har to my lame totally overused sewing pun). I need a name for my new blog. Since I consider it a spin off from this blog, I think it should be related - ideally with the word "gliding" in it. If I pick your suggestion, I will send you your choice of coffee cup holder. I will also do a draw for a coffee cup holder from everyone who makes a suggestion, and you get an extra entry if someone says you referred them to enter. Contest closes June 6.


And lastly, I tried another project last night. This tote seemed super easy and yet I don't think Ive dealt with less clear instructions before. The bag turned out pretty cute, but using an old pillow case made for a fairly flimsy tote. I think I'm going to use it to bring my lunch to work.

All you sewing pros out there - should I have sewn a "v" on the front? Because i unintentionally have two huge gaping "pockets" inside the bag now where the other sides of the diagonals weren't sewn down.

Do you guys like the bag? Should I try to make it again with a sturdier fabric?

Sweatball

Kiernan woke up as such a sweatball from his nap yesterday I just couldn't resist creating this little coif...


He was apparently not impressed ;)

Here's a cuter one from this weekend to compensate.

PS: Here's our new favourite online video to watch

Craft of choice

Lately, my craft of choice has been sewing. Being the "I want it NOW" kind of person that I am, the majority of the projects I take on are pretty quick ones - but I'm still pretty proud of them. :) I'd love to hear what you think.

Here's a makeup case

And another similar one


It all started with a tote bag and I've made a few more - some are even sort of reversible.




Coffee cup holders (I used to always get 1 or 2 of those cardboard sleeves or double cups)



I now also spend hours scouring the internet for sewing blogs and free tutorials and have been neglecting my mommy blogs :(

But they're fun:
The original tutorial I made a small pouch from. I figured out how to line it afterwards.
A fun and easy tote bag I made for Vicky.
And there are a zillion here I want to try out.
I made up the coffee holder one myself, based on one I bought at a craft fair and one from second cup. If you like them guess what advantage there is to being co-owner of an online store? ;)