Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day!  In our house, 'holidays' like this are "craft-only" days where we make a craft or card but don't purchase anything. (We have a beautiful collection of awesome cards made for one another over the years. Great souvenirs  easy to pack or easy to store -- physically or electronically.)

Emma and I made this Valentine for her Daddy, using an idea I got on an craft site. There are so many fun things to make with kids, aren't there? I thought this was a fun way to get a handprint of Emma.  (She has long fingers like her Great-Grandpa.)  The ribbon is the same length as her 'wingspan' fingertip to fingertip. (I made the card by cutting out hearts from old wrapping paper.)

A class set of Valentines

Last year, I made these Valentines for my students.  I do love a good craft project.

Baby Food and Freezer Tetris

Peas, carrots, pumpkin...

I've been making baby food!  Pretty easy, just time-consuming.  I put them into these baby-food jars (which I saved from the food I bought). Turns out, though, that I had no idea how to seal them!  Fortunately, a friend filled me in on the process.  It's more complicated than I thought.  Oh well!  I ended up just putting it into ice-cube trays, letting them freeze and then putting the cubes into a freezer bag. An ice-cube-sized portion is about perfect for a new eater, so this all works out for everyone.

Freezer Tetris!  A mother's favorite game?

But I think I might be saying "I'll just freeze it!" a few too many times.  Check out this freezer!

Good thing I love Tetris!

Blue Sky Interlude: Snowy Day

I'm not usually a lover of snow, but I have to admit that it is sometimes very beautiful.  I took this photo in November after a snow storm (it's the view outside our front door). You can see the brightly-colored slide of our little play ground (we live in a gated community, so there were only a few pedestrians about). The snow was still white and the branches of the trees were delicately frosted. Unusually, the sun came out and the sky cleared up. Emma and I went outside and took a walk -- her first snow fall. I sang "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" and took photos of her surrounded by the heat of her breath. And then we went back into our warm house and played with her owl puppet.  Now that's my kind of snow day.

Fun Firsts: Family Photo

We've always been a big fan of the self-portrait and have a bunch of photos taken where we simply hold the camera out in front of us and hope for good aim (and correct focus). 

Here's a more recent one. We're in my parents' backyard in Brisbane, Australia.   It was our wedding anniversary and Emma was one month old.  We'd decided to try to get a good family photo, so as soon as she was in a good mood, we ran outside and started snapping pictures as quickly as possible. Michael's arm was getting tired (we were using our Nikon 5100, so holding it up was a small test of endurance!).  In the end, we had six usable photos and almost thirty where she was crying, we were distracted, and/or the focus was off.  This one was one of my favorites. Enjoy!

Fun Firsts: "Real" Food

(I don't plan on putting many family/Emma photos on this blog, but I think some "first" moments are too good not to share.)

Emma had her first taste of "real" food this weekend.  I decided to go with carrot puree.  She seemed very excited at first...  

... but maybe carrots aren't her favorite.  

I'd put them in her mouth and she'd make this face: "ugh! What is *that*?!

 In the end, she looked a little unimpressed.  We'll try something else tomorrow.

UPDATE: (two weeks later) I'm happy to report that she now loves carrots!

Hello... is it me you're looking for?

I’m finding it hard not to admonish myself for neglecting this blog for so long!  I recently became a regular reader of some of my friends’ blogs and realized that I really want to get back into writing. So, here I am.  There’s a lot to fill you in on.  Let’s summarize the last 15-or-so months.

1. We’re parents!  Emma Jane is now six months old.  She is amazing and we’re so happy to have her.  I’m amazed at how quickly she grows, how much she’s learning to do each month. 
2. I’m on maternity leave this year.  How lucky am I?  I get to take the whole school year off, returning to the classroom this August.
3. We’re still in Kazakhstan at the moment.  We decided that becoming parents was a big enough change – no need to throw in an international move on top of that!
4. We added some new countries to our list of “visited places”:  Uzbekistan (October 2011), Ukraine (Spring 2012), UAE (August 2012), Malaysia (December 2012).  Uzbekistan has to be one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been – the architecture, history and artisan crafts are incredibly unique.  Malaysia wins for one of the friendliest places we’ve ever been, with some of the best food we’ve ever had on holiday (Penang!). More on that later.
5. Emma’s already been to 8 countries and boarded 13 flights.  We’re traveling with her again this March. I’m amazed at how well she travels, but she’s been travelling since she was 5 weeks old so I guess it’s not strange for her!

That’s the briefest I can make it.  I want to expand on all of this.  Now that things are settling into a routine again with the baby, I think I can do it.  That’s the hope, anyway!  I do miss writing.