Our Little Chef

little_chef
Originally uploaded by triviaqueen

Kiddo was chipper this morning -- much more so than Hubby or I -- and we joked that she should cook us breakfast. Long story short, she decided she was ready to learn but was still wary of the stove so we agreed on cooking pancakes using the electric frying pan.

After a slight disaster with the batter (she mixed up the salt and sugar first time around) she did perfectly well... until the very last pancake when she burned herself. Surprisingly, she didn't panic or cry, but also didn't hold her hand under the cold water long enough so it got a bit nasty.

Now, despite her finger being a bit "sensitive," she is OK (and now knows what a burn feels like and what to do if it happens again) and is looking forward to expanding her cooking from the microwave to the frying pan! I am ridiculously proud of her.

Crafty Tutorial Time!

I finally finished the tutorial for the Creepy Severed Body Parts Garland I whipped up for Halloween....

The garland itself is a knit intestine; pinned to the innards are various severed felt body parts. The full PDF is available for download over at ThoseDeWolfes.com.

Awesomeness.

WALL-E COSTUME: 13) WALL-E Costume Sets Sail
Originally uploaded by anthony.shafer

1. Awesome Costume.

Saw this in the DIY Halloween pool on Flickr... so very awesome. The tracks run down the kid's legs so when he kneels they look like treads.

2. Awesome Outcome.

Yeah, I am still stunned and waiting for the other shoe to drop. And I really hope that Obama, Japan can boost its tourist numbers.

3. Awesome evening...

... almost. We went to see the Dr. Zonk show tonight. Dr. Reg Mitchell has donned a green clown wig to introduce kids to science since 1974 but is retiring, so he agreed to do two last shows as a benefit for the United Way -- both shows sold out. Kiddo freaked out at the big bangs (balloons filled with various gas mixtures) and didn't appreciate the stink produced by the two final displays which both involved burning sugar. In between, she was selected to help by mixing some chemicals in a flask which glowed nicely in the dark -- making her a human firefly. :)

Yes, this is an election-themed post.

While our sad little federal election is already a mere dust mote in the corner of our collective Canadian consciousness, the U.S. Election is everywhere today -- and I mean everywhere. You would have to turn off your web browser, television, radio and avert your eyes all day to avoid it. Here are some more interesting election-related links if you would rather not look away:

• If you look at Google.com (here it automatically redirects me to Google.ca) you'll see a clever election logo:
  
  
• Cakewrecks has politically themed cakes today (including one I submitted!) plus a bonus misspelling: "Your Vote Counst"
• Graphic Tales' DB Dowd is sketching election day.
• Mental Floss serves up 11 Memorable Moments from Forgotten Campaigns.

And if you're really desperate to kill time, you can just search "polling station" or "I voted" or "us election" at Flickr or your favourite search engine or surf over to CNN to see if one more viewer will down their servers.

We'll be watching tonight as the numbers start coming in, snacking on an array of appetizers as prepared by my Hubby.

E is for Exhausted.

After being sick most of last week, we still took Kiddo out trick-or-treating. It was actually really nice to do a fairly quick route around the neighbourhood, meet some of our neighbours, and then sit around while Kiddo answered the door for the dozen or so trick-or-treaters who showed up here. Oh, and she looked great in her costume... as Sarah Palin.

(Yes, she chose that costume and I think she will actually be sad if the McCain-Palin ticket fails to get to the Whitehouse. Sigh.)

I also think her trick-or-treating years may be numbered; it already seemed like she wasn't interested and yet she had heaps of fun working the door and handing out candy to other kids.

Saturday we popped up to Nanaimo and got a wardrobe for the bedroom plus a nice electric lawnmower that was being cleared out at the end of the season. I still have to put together the lawnmower, but there's no rush until the rain lets up enough to dry out the lawn a little.

Today we finished putting together the wardrobe (we started last night... it's a bit of a beast even as flat-pack furniture goes, but it looks good in place) and did some shuffling downstairs. Hubby took a load of construction debris out of the basement to the dump then we cleaned and moved boxes while he framed in a closet.

Anyway, I am still tired but determined to go back to work this week, even if my mind keeps drifting to thoughts of preparation for the craft fair at Kiddo's school at the end of the month -- I've committed to a table and the organizer from the PAC was very excited to hear that I would be bringing plush toys and finger puppets.