Automatic For The People

So, here it is. The Jess Hutch robot, knit for the little dude next door. Before I get to the grit, here are the specs (as if you didn't know):

Robot from Jessica Hutchison's Unusual Toys For You To Knit And Enjoy
Yarn: Cascade 220 in light blue, green and orange
Needle: U.S. #8 wooden straights
Mods: I stuck to a more solid colour scheme
Comments: Hmmm. I gotta say, this is the first Jess Hutch toy that I haven't been happy with. Sure, he's cute enough, but he doesn't have the same panache as say, Kate or Spherey. I blame it on the flat knitting and my own lousy finishing skills -- whereas the other toys (save for the ultra-simple Squarey) are marvels of construction with their round shaping, Mr. Robot is a slightly messy affair. I found that he was a bit of a pain to finish and I don't love the way the arms came out (that's a loose end at the top of the right arm -- I didn't have time to weave it in before I snapped the photo). I'm also not crazy about the way my less than tight intarsia looks with Mr. Robo stuffed fat. I think it'll be fine to give to the little boy next door, but I wouldn't hold it up as my finest work. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.

Mmmm....Muffins!

So, has everyone seen Hannah's new blog The Recipe Box? Her idea is awesome -- to create a place to share family recipes with the rest of her blogging community. The first recipe posted was for Orange-Chocolate Chip muffins and being a fan of the dark chocolate/orange combo and an obsessive muffin maker, I had to heed the call. I think I would make them a little more orange-y next time out (maybe a whole orange's worth of juice rather than half), but they're really great and really easy. And they're fattened up with olive oil rather than butter. Olive oil! In a muffin!



This also, weirdly enough, marks the first time I've baked with self-rising flour. I can't get over how cool this bag of flour looks. I love it!

Thursday Love

I love making gifts. But even more so, I love buying gifts that others have made -- all the specialness, but a fraction of the effort (and often, not even a much higher price). I really love the local Christmas craft fairs. And while I do have a penchant for the hipster craft fairs like D.U.D.E. in Toronto and other such places that attract the blogger types, I also have a soft spot for the old fashioned community hall fairs with older folks selling their goods. I stopped by a fair yesterday that had a few hipster types (there was a table manned by a few cute indie-rock glass blowers) but I ended up forking my money over to the seniors.

In addition to a few other things, I bought Ruby this little wooded truck with tiles teaching her the ABCs and 123s. An older gentleman made it and was selling a variety of little trucks for a mere $18 each. His wife told me that their greatest challenge was coming up with new designs since the trucks were so sturdy and handed down from child to child, their customer base couldn't just buy the same thing over and over. I also hit the Ukrainian food stand and bought a bunch of frozen cabbage rolls which we ate last night. Our whole house now smells like cabbage. Um... yum!

Happy Blogiversary!

Hey! I've been doing this for a year! Well, a year as of yesterday actually. Anyway, last November, at the urging of my insanely talented friend Sam I opened the doors to Elizaboothy. I missed the feeling of writing (almost) every day (which I gave up once I stopped working to raise my daughter) and I also needed a kick in the butt to keep my craftiness going (ditto). And guess what? It worked! In the last year I've kept the knitting up, learned how to make socks and, most shockingly, finally learned how to use my sewing machine. The blog community has kept me so inspired -- I'm chomping at the bit to learn how to crochet, quilt and do just about 100 other things, so I can promise you that Elizaboothy will be going strong for the next while to come.

Speaking of sewing, I didn't get nearly as much as I had hoped done over the weekend because I was too busy cleaning up baby vomit and in more recent days, my own vomit. Damn you stomach flu! Ruby seems to have recovered but although I'm feeling much better I still can't keep much more than saltines down. Still, I managed to make some progress on my put-together Kitty (see above pic), I blocked Mr. Robot, started a pair of wristwarmers (which I made good headway on whilst waiting to get some bloodwork done this morning) and I bought fabric for my Make-Along set. It's that time of year and I love it.

W.I.P. Friday

Note: If you are a close friend or a member of my family and think that I may be making you a gift, I'd strongly suggest that you quit reading the blog until after the holidays. Don't say I didn't warn you. Leena, you're okay to keep reading.

Okay, I had to get that picture of my pouty lips bumped from the top post. Ugh. I haven't had many F.O. to show this week, but I have been working hard. My holiday frenzy continues and what you see above is the fruit of this week's labour. I've got a Jess Hutch robot (in Cascade 220) on the go for the baby next door, a Wee Wonderful Put-Together Kitty (not sure who this will go to, but it's partially to practice for my masterplan Make-A-Long set for Aaron's sister) and a secret Cash Iroha project, which I'll most likely blog about on some of my KAL sites. I expect all of these things to be done soon, so more deets to come.



And, the stupidly early cookie bake-off continues as well. We're having our holiday party early this year, so I have less than a month to finish all the treats. This morning Ruby and I whipped up some ginger snaps. Delish!

Self Portrait Challenge: Glam Week #1

I love make-up. I have a lot of make-up. Lately though, I don't wear very much make-up. When I used to work full time at the magazine, although our focus was on music we had a very tiny style section that warranted the editor in charge of it the right to solicit beauty companies for free product. It was great -- for four years I didn't have to buy shampoo, sunscreen, lotion, bubble bath or cosmetics. And we got good stuff too -- clinique, benefit, origins, cake, cargo, mac... it was like my own personal sephora,

While the make-up train made it's last stop ages ago, I still have a lot of the stuff left in my linen closet. I know that you're not supposed to keep make-up around for years and years, but I don't seem to go through it very quickly, even when I go through periods of wearing a lot of it. To glam it up, this morning I put on two of my fave lip products from my pantry -- Clinique's colour surge lipstick in golden mink and Benefit's It Was Just A Matter Of Time Lip Cream. Yum. I would never wear either of these colours out -- way too dark. But to glam it up, they suit me just fine.

Off And Running

Is it lame for me to have already started my holiday baking? As previously mentioned, Aaron thinks I'm nuts and annually begs me not to "overdo it" when it comes to my holiday prep. Since I'm not working outside the home (though the freelance stuff is starting to pile up) and Ruby's not a screaming infant this year, I'm already full on for Xmas. And it's frickin' November. And I don't even celebrate it from a religious standpoint. Am I turning into the crazy stay-at-home mom with no life?

I'll admit, when Ruby and I popped into Winners last week (to try on fancy high-heel shoes), I briefly contemplated buying one of those Christmas sweaters with bobbly snowmen and sparkly gift packages, but I stopped myself (and purchased something from the "junior trendsetters" section to overcompensate for my momentary lapse in judgment). And I've already baked about five dozen cookies that went promptly into the freezer -- the almond stars you see above and a huge batch of double-chocolate peppermint chip. But this isn't because I'm chomping at the bit for Xmas -- it's because I know myself. I know that I'm going to get busy and burn out sooner rather than later. And I want to get all this stuff done because I want Ruby to grown up loving the holidays as much as I do. Is that so crazy?

I knitting news, I signed up for Norovember since I'm currently working on a top-secret project in Cash Iroha, which I can't really blog about here. Button to appear as soon as I can take a moment without Ruby tearing up my office.

Hip To Be Square

I didn't sign up for the national blog month post every day thing, but I may as well have. So much to post about! Tis the holiday season, I suppose -- I'm trying to crank out the small items and as of an hour ago, I've begun my holiday baking. It's so weird, I used to be very lazy about this stuff (i.e. did nothing), but I've been overcome by some weird desire to be super-mom. A friend once commented that as soon as Aaron and I had Ruby we somehow became The Flintstones, and despite my years as a Women's Studies' minor, it's true. Oh well, sisters, we've won our right to choose and I choose to bake cookies.

But I digress. I present to you my first holiday FO. This was one of my longest current WIPs -- I think I started it when we were still in Toronto. But, since I decided to give it to Ruby as part of her Xmas gift, it counts as a holiday knit. Ha.

Squarey from Jessica Hutchison's Unusual toys For You To Knit And Enjoy
Yarn Lamb's Pride Worsted in Orange You Glad, Lotus Pink and Limeaide
Needle U.S. 8 wooden straights (and DPNs for the limbs)
Mods put sleeves and pants on him
Comments: I love it. I didn't test for gauge, so I was amazed that the pillow fit perfectly -- I really thought I was going to have to polyfil this guy. But he's soft, cuddly and given Roo's love for softies these days, he'll be well loved. Given her affection for a stuffed Pilsbury Doughboy that she was given, I'll be glad to put a non-commercial buddy into her arms. As it is, I can't get her out of the grocery store without poking the boy on the frozen cookie dough display and watching Ruby giggling maniacally.

My Swiss Miss

Yesterday my friend Mark and I took Ruby to Walmart to get her Xmas portrait done. Usually I avoid Walmart like the plague (a gross, unhealthy, over-Americanized plague), but Mark and I have made it a tradition to take Roo to the Wally for the portrait. My main reasoning for this is because it's so flippin' cheap -- a package of 42 prints is only $19.95, and this includes the sitting (this is by no means meant to be an advertisement for Walmart). Of course, they don't give you a choice in which shot qualifies for the special and they take a bunch more which they later try to sell you for 10 times the price. But I do like the general cheesiness of the whole process and Mark enjoys his role as art director/Ruby wrangler.

What you see above is the dress that we chose as Ruby's costume. It came with a box of family heirloom hand-me-downs that Aaron's aunt Bobbie (the mother of the next youngest kid in our clan, Aaron's five-year-old cousin Maren) gave me after Ruby was born. I have no idea how old it is -- I've seen pictures of Aaron's 31-year-old sister wearing it when she was about Ruby's age, but it might date back farther to Aaron's aunt, who's about 50. Either way, it was made in Italy and it's absolutely beautiful.

As I very secretly predicted, the actual photo session was a bit of a bust. Ruby was fine and was sitting in front of the Swiss village background that Mark selected as the photographer set up her equipment. Right before she was ready to start snapping, Roo had a big freak out and refused to sit. We did everything we could to please her, including a walk through the hardware section of the Walmart. She continued her refusals. Finally, we bought a package of shortbread cookies and bribed her. She sat there, on the photo platform, happily chomping away, but would cry whenever she was without cookie in hand. So all of the photos feature Ruby holding a cookie and wearing a wide crumb-covered grin. I think they're pretty cute and will provide an suitably embarrassing story once she's older. Ha.

Pistachio Pudding Pie

In an effort to get more than a half hour's wear out of Ruby's clown costume (why did I spend countless hours sewing a costume for a toddler?) I hauled her down to Aaron's office today for his company's Halloween potluck lunch. While that in itself isn't really worth writing about, I've got to tell you about the dessert I made for the occasion. The official name of the dish is "Joanne's Dessert" (who Joanne is I'll never know), but in my family it's known as Grandma Ruby's Green Dessert. In reality, it's kind of a pistachio pudding pie.

Every year my Grandma Ruby makes two pans of this stuff for my parents' annual Boxing Day party, which is attended by about 60 of my relatives. We all love it. We wait for it. We take a serving along side our ham, just in case there's none left when we go back for dessert (this actually happened to me once when my cousin Cathy cut the squares too big). It's delicious. After my Grandma got hip surgery she wasn't up to making it last year, so I stepped in and whipped up a double batch. I was really excited about it because I got to use her special Green Dessert pans, which are metal and have a lid that slides in, making them really great for desserts that need to go in the fridge for a couple of days.



Below is the recipe for Joanne's Dessert, a.k.a. Grandma Ruby's Green Dessert. It's one of those great mid-century recipes that will cause any organic chef to recoil in horror -- basically a step above dump cake -- but I love it. If you make it and love it, let me know -- I'll pass it on to Grandma Ruby.

Joanne's Dessert

1st Layer

1 cup flour
1/2 cup margarine (I couldn't do it, so I subbed with softened butter)
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used almonds)

Press into 6 by 12 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool.

2nd Layer

2/3 cup icing sugar
8 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 large container cool whip (I believe it's the 12 oz size)

Mix together until creamy. Spread over crust

3rd Layer

2 pkges pistachio instant pudding
2 1/2 cups cold milk

Beat. Spread over cheese layer and refridgerate for 20 minutes

4th Layer

Spread remaining 1/2 container of cool whip over pudding. Sprinkle almonds slivers on top. Refrigerate. Enjoy!

Boo!

It's still another day until Halloween, but I thought I'd put a picture of my little pumpkin up today. Oh, how she's grown since last Halloween when we carried her around in a sling to go trick or treating. Unfortunately I don't think the TNT is going to go off too well this year -- ever since I was a kid, Halloween in Calgary was always ruined by a major snowfall. We got a dumping on Sunday, and it's cold as can be, so I don't think Ruby will be out for too long tomorrow. It's not like we let her eat candy anyway, but she's got to get some use out of the costume, right?

I'm pretty happy with the costume -- for my first real sewn garment, I'm pretty pleased. She loves it too. It was a struggle getting it on for the party we went to on Friday, but she's been begging to wear it ever since. Aw, my little clown. I'm glad you like it.

Listen Up

I don't often write about music in this space. Not because I don't listen to a lot of it or because I don't think about it, but because writing about music is how I make my living (in addition to chasing a toddler, of course) and making what you do as your living into your hobby as well isn't all that fun. But, I feel like it is my mission as someone who likes music to tell the handful of people out their who drop by this blog about Woodpigeon. As a seasoned music critic very little impresses me anymore, but Woodpigeon actually amaze me.

Okay, here's the story: Woodpigeon comes from the mind and heart of Mark Hamilton, who happens to be a very good friend of mine. He's the art director for Ruby's annual Walmart Christmas shot. For about a decade, I thought that Mark had a great visual eye, that he knew a lot about the cinema and that he was an excellent photographer who recorded much of his life with a camera. I didn't know that he wrote songs. Nobody knew that he wrote songs -- he didn't sing them in public. A couple of years ago while we were living in Toronto, Mark sent Aaron an MP3 of one of his songs, asking if it was good enough for him to bother continuing. As a trick, Aaron played the song without telling me who it was and I said I thought it was great and we should buy the album of whoever it was. I couldn't believe it when he told me that it was my quiet, unassuming friend Mark.

I try to be supportive of all of my friends who make music, but I often catch myself realizing that if they weren't my friends I probably wouldn't be as charged by their music. I find myself asking if I could hold them up to Belle And Sebastian or Fleetwood Mac or some other band that I worship and the answer is always no. After seeing Woodpigeon play their CD release party at a soft seat theatre last night, the answer for them is "yes." I was moved to tears. (Oh, and their opening act, Aaron Booth was pretty tear-worthy too. And swoon-worthy as well, if I may add. Check him out at the link on the side panel). So please, if you have an opportunity to see or hear Woodpigeon, please take it. You can check them out online here.

Back to suburban crafting tomorrow. I promise.

I Get It

Okay, I get it. I get why you all like Noro so much. I've always passed the Noro in the shops and thought "Why do all the bloggers love this stuff so much? The colours are wacky, the thickness inconsistent and it's rough as all hell." Well, I get it now. Noro is great -- it just has to find the right project. And here it is:

Child's Rainbow Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Noro Kureyon in two different coloured balls (I threw out the bands, so I can't tell you which numbers)
Needle: U.S. #9 aluminum
Mods: none
Comments: This pattern is GENUIS. It really plays out the sheer craziness of the Noro colour combos and it's a real crap-shoot as to if portions of the scarf are going to look like vomit. I started one ball from the outside and one from the centre-pull (just because) and I think I ended up getting a much better colour combo than if I'd gone the other way. Now I want to do this over and over again just to see what combos I can get. I was really addicted to knitting this scarf and I'm sad it's over.

In other news, as you can see, my camera is back from its trip to Florida, as is my husband. So, hopefully, post-Halloween of course, things will be less stressful around here soon. Hopefully.

Camera Shy

My camera has been whisked away to an exotic locale, so there will be no pictures of anything for at least a few days. It's too bad, because I'm feeling a creative wave hitting me. I've been furiously knitting and sewing away, trying to get Ruby ready for Halloween/winter. I'm also aware that I announced the commencement of holiday knitting well over a month ago and have not one gift to show for myself. That's all coming to an end. Xmas presents, articles to warm my family's extremities -- bring 'em on. And yes, that blasted clown suit will be done in time. Mark my words.

I'm also feeling kind of inspired because I finally got my copy of Craft magazine in the mail today (Canadian subscriptions are always a bit slow). Very inspiring indeed. And it reminds me, I've got some robots to knit...

My Little Kitten Has Found Her Mittens

It was pointed out to me recently on a crisp day that my child's hands were freezing. Last winter (and the winter before) Ruby had yet to join the realm of the walking, so she was bundled up Maggie Simpson-style with her hands pretty much bound inside her snowsuit. So, I totally forgot that little kids need mittens in the winter. Ruby's Nana thoughtfully purchased her a couple pairs, but a kid can never have enough mittens and like any good knitter mum, I decided to cook her up a pair.

I've never done mittens before -- kid or adult size -- and who would have known they were so easy? After months of sock knitting, they were a total cinch. Here are the specs on these little kid mitts:

Ruby's Mittens adapted from the Bold Banded Mittens from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits For Tots
Yarn: Schachenmayer Nomotta Bravo Baby Soft
Needle: U.S. 3 bamboo for the cuffs and string and U.S. 5 acrylics for the body
Mods: I sort of just used the pattern as a basic mitten recipe. I took another one of Zoe Mellor's books from the library and there were a couple other fancy mittens, but all with the same basis. She also recommends doing a braid for the string, but that was way too much of a pain. I started doing some icord, but it seemed a little bulky, so I knit a flat three-stitch band to string the mitts together.



It's funny, I went to a posh LYS that carries a lot of brand name yarn because I was going to splurge and use the Rowan that the pattern called for. After searching through the piles of DK yarns I decided on this Bravo Baby stuff, which cost a whopping $3.50 and is totally washable. Hooray. As you can see from the above photo, my back garden has transformed into a virtual winter wonderland, so Ruby will be needing the mitts. Still, she prefers to prance around the house while wearing them as a scarf -- very chic.

W.I.P. Friday (The 13th)

Happy Friday 13th! I plan to spend my evening eating hotdogs and celebrating my friend Jane's birthday. Hooray!

Speaking of scary days, I've been hard at work putting together Ruby's Halloween costume. Let me tell you, this learning how to sew is a steep learning curve. But the clown suit is looking pretty good so far and I'm thinking that I may actually finish before the party she's attending on the Friday before the actual Halloween day. In the last couple weeks I've learned how to do gathering, set in sleeves (with easing!), do an elastic casing, collar facing and much more. It's sloppy and won't fit very well, but clowns are supposed to be goofy looking, right?



And as an added bonus pic, here's a shot of Ruby in the ruby red slippers that a friend of ours bought for her in Las Vegas almost a year ago. They fit a lot sooner than I expected them to (despite having a tiny body the Rubester has enormous feet for a girl her age) and my girl was tap dancing around the house all morning. She loves walking in heels -- I don't get it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Canadian Thanksgiving, that is. That's right Americans, we have our own turkey eating festival/reinterpretation of European-Native North American relations too. But, since our harvest is a bit earlier to accommodate the blistering cold winter, we do it at the beginning of October. Yesterday I joined about 30 members of my family to walk 5K to raise money for the Alzheimer's Foundation. My grandfather passed away nearly 10 years ago after a struggle with the disease and for the last five years or so the fam has been marching to raise money for research. It was a gorgeous walk along the shore of the Bow River and I had a great time hanging out with my clan.

So, in the interest of posting something about knitting, here is my finished City Shawl. Please excuse the hideous photos. Here are the details:

City Shawl, a Glampyre pattern
Yarn: Lion Brand Suede in black
Needle: Addi U.S. 15 circs
Mods: I added about 20 rows

I'm in love with the finished product, but I had trouble getting this one started. I looked high and low for some really nice chenille at various fancy yarn stores, but everything was in gross colours or variegated (or variegated gross colours) so I decided to hoof it to Michael's and grab some Lion Brand. The pattern calls for any bulky chenille so without paying much attention I grabbed the LB Thick 'N' Quick Chenille. I later noticed that other bloggers used the same yarn with unhappy results. I also noticed that TNQC is actually a super bulky, which is why my shawl was starting to look like a teddy-bear skin coat. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that Stephanie actually suggests LB Suede on the pattern, so I switched it up (I also switched from bamboo circs to my Addis because the LB was sticking on the join and with both the suede and the TNQ chenille the bamboos held the yarn so tight that I broke the yarn on some of the K2togs).



So, the lesson learned? Pay attention to your yarn, use appropriate needles and if you need to, keep knitting until the shawl's a-fitting. My finished product is warm and cuddly and looks cute too. The edges are starting to dog-ear and curl a bit and the ends didn't weave in as nicely as I'd hoped, but I love the pattern and am happy to have a functional and finished item that I've actually worn many times since finishing it last week. Hooray!

Crochet Me? I Don't Mind If You Do!

I'll admit it -- I was skeptical about One Skein Secret Pal. It was a blatant marketing scheme for a book that didn't particularly wow me (I didn't actually get the book until after I signed up for the swap) and I didn't feel like I had a whole lot in common with the pal I was assigned to, so I had a hard time choosing items that I thought she'd like. Luckily, the pal assigned to me was awesome throughout -- she sent me great yarn, threw in additional goodies and had a healthy appreciation for my love of pink. I just got my final package from her (I was warned ahead that it'd come a bit past deadline and the lateness was for some very good reasons, so I didn't mind one bit) and not only did she send great stuff, but she seems like an all-around awesome person to boot.

My pal is none other than Kim Werker, who will be known to crochet addicts as the editor of Crochet Me which is kind of like the crochet version of Knitty or Magknits. She also just published her second book, Get Hooked. Since she knew I can't do it myself, Kim chose to crochet me an item rather than knit (although she can indeed knit as well) and she came up with this bobbly-textured little pouch. As the mother of a toddler my purse (which doubles as a diaper bag) is very poorly organized and I know this will come in handy. Plus I'm in love with the pink yarn and the bubbly texture. Being the gal she is, Kim also threw in a ball of beautiful Rowan tapestry and some Knit Klips, which I'm dying to try, seeing as I'm still struggling with my finishing skills.

All of this really makes me want to make good on my pledge to learn how to crochet. I love the tightness of the stitches and the sturdyness of this little pouch -- it's structured enough that there's no need for lining. With Kim and also Amy Swenson having new crochet books out and that dusty copy of the Happy Hooker on my shelf (well, actually in a box in my still unpacked basement), I have no excuse. Will 2007 be the year that the hook and I finally become friends?

F.O. And SPC

Since I'm just that kind of gal, my picture for today is doing double duty as Self-Portrait Challenge and a picture of the new neck-warmer I made. Both me and the neck-warmer fit the theme of imperfection for this month. Me because winter is coming in and my skin is going wacky, my hair both dry and oily at the same time (I can't tell you why my mascara is smudged. But it adds to the effect, no?) Calgary's climate is really weird: dry and cold but sometimes dry and hot and it's murder on a girl's beauty regime. Even Ruby, who is a picture of physical perfection is suffering with rashes and dry patches. So yes, winter time in these parts makes the imperfect even less perfect.

And what about the neck-warmer? Well, here are the specs:

Adapted from Pashmina Cowl from Last Minute-Knitted Gifts
Yarn: The worsted Blue Sky Alpaca that my One Skein secret pal sent
Needle: U.S. 10 circular
Mods: Well, this clearly is nothing like the pattern in the book. And intentionally so, but I'm not sure I'm that crazy about this thing. When I got this yarn I knew I wanted to make a neckwarmer, because it's so nice and soft. I very loosley based it on the cowl in LMKG, which is knit with a superfine cashmere and is much drapier and finer and taller and slouchier. What I have here will work fine under a coat, but I'm seriously thinking of splurging on some cashmere and doing the real thing in the new year. Mmmm... cashmerey and cowly.

Rub-A-Dub-Dub

What I did this weekend (apologies for being a day late):

Bought Ruby a Fisher Price Three Men In A Tub set for $1 at a garage sale; did pilates; went for brunch with friends; worked in the yard; played in the leaves; finished a shawl (pictures to come); started a cowl; watched a movie that made me cry; ate a Dairy Queen sundae; took a bath; had a nap; sent Ruby downtown with her grandparents for the first time; got lots of work done; put my feet up; spent time with family; cleaned out the linen closet; ate pie and ice cream; got some much needed rest.

p.s. I couldn't resist the three men in a tub. It was my favourite when I was a kid. My brother remembers putting soap on his face in the bath and using the men to "shave." Ruby hasn't taken them in the tub yet, mainly because she can't get enough of them on dry land. The second I game them to her she was delighted and refused to unhand them most of Saturday -- she even insisted on taking them into the restaurant when we went for brunch. Her current favourite game is running from the living room to the kitchen, putting one of the men in the cupboard, running back in and putting her hands up to signal "where is he?" then running back to fetch him and show him to Aaron or I. She probably did that about 30 times on Sunday night. I couldn't be happier that one of my favourite toys, which I was able to purchase for such a small sum, is causing more joy in my little one than a $50 T.M.X. Elmo ever could.