Interview with (9.5-Year-Old) Emily and (7.66-Year-Old) Jessica

Emily and Jessica are growing up fast! And here's what they have to say about it.

Nathalieland: Girls! Hello! How are you?
Emily: I'm good.
Jessica: Good.

(September 2018)

N: It's been a while (a year and a half!) since we last spoke. Any major changes since then?
E: I don't know, not much.
J: I don't think so.

N: Ok then! What are 5 words that best describe you?
E: Nice, cheerful, silly, quiet, and respectful.
J: Nice, silly, quiet, happy, and caring.

N: Those are pretty good words. Tell me about your hobbies.
E: I like writing, typing, reading, doing Legos, playing piano, doing stickers, and playing with Jessi.
J: I like drawing, reading, doing sillies, doing puzzles, watching football, and playing with Emily.

N: How's school going? What do you like/not like?
E: I love school! I have great friends and a good teacher. There's nothing I don't like (that I can think of).
J: School is great! I like my teachers and my friends. I also can't think of anything I don't like.

N: Awesome! Who is your best friend, and why?
E: Kassie because we've known each other since kindergarten and we play really well together.
J: Olivia because she's kind of like me and she's nice.

N: Do you two sisters get along well?
E: Of course! We play all kinds of games together and spend most of the day together.
J: Of course!

N: What are some of your favourite things? Colours, books, songs, etc.
E: My favourite colour is green, song is Youngblood, food is cake, book is Harry Potter, and animal is guinea pig.
J: My favourite colour is blue, song is Broken, animal is a snake, and football team is the Tampa Bay Bucs.

N: Here's a question I don't think I've ever asked before. What's your favourite holiday, and why?
E: I like Christmas because you get chocolate and presents.
J: I like Easter because I enjoy finding the eggs that are hidden.

N: Emily! You're almost in the double-digits. How do you feel about that?
E: I like it. I feel like I'll feel older once I'm 10.

N: Jessi, do you like having a big sister to look up to and learn from? You never have to do anything first!
J: Yeah I like it. It's pretty cool.

N: What do you want to be when you grow up?
E: I either want to be a writer, a chef, or a cashier.
J: I want to work at Little Ray's Reptile Zoo!

N: Cool. What is a special skill you've learned in the past year?
E: Piano and I'm working on typing.
J: Swimming! And piano.

N: That's great! Anything else you'd like to add?
E: I'm a sensitive person and I don't like trying new foods. I also don't like getting my hair wet!
J: I really like being myself.

N: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. À la prochaine!
E: So long!
J: Byyye!

Happy 9th Birthday, Nathalieland!

I never could have guessed that when I started my blog in 2010, I'd still be here, 9 years later, posting about our daily lives, family adventures, and crafty projects. But I'm so glad that I am! Our family has grown so much since Emily was just 5 months old. That was 3,285 days and 1,367 posts ago...

January 2010

January 2011

January 2012, 2013

January 2014

January 2015, 2016

January 2017

January 2018

I'm always happy to grab a new background for the new year! I don't have any major plans for this blog, other than continuing a once-or-twice-a-week post, especially capturing the main events of the year.

One of my first posts was an interview with 5-month-old Emily. Emily and Jessi love reading through those old interviews and have asked me on a couple of occasions to interview them again, now that they're (much) older. That post is coming up next!

To nine years on Blogger!

Organizing Recipes

I've been working hard over the last couple of weeks to solve a problem in the kitchen: too many recipes all over the place! Cookbooks, printouts, recipe cards, websites... I decided it was finally time to put it all together. With Christmas money I bought our very first tablet. I figured it was best to go paperless at this point!

Samsung Galaxy Tab A (10.5")

Plus keyboard and cover

The fun part

Setting it up for the first time!

First picture taken with "Tabby" the tablet

Second picture :)

The plan was simple: find an app or website that allows me to collect/record/sort all my recipes. A nice layout and an easy searching function were musts! After looking at a few options, I chose Copy Me That (though really all the options seem to offer the same things).

The last two weeks have been all about typing up recipes (from books, cards, printouts) or copying them from websites using the Copy Me That button (which will transcribe the recipes from any website for me). A big job, but I was totally into it! Steve helped out too, especially with all of his tried-and-true baking recipes. 150 recipes later and we are done!

Recipes everywhere!

Do you need a recipe? Look it up here!

So far I'm happy with the new setup. Copy Me That has been easy to use and I do like the look/format. There are options to download the recipes (in case I want to back them up or access them offline) as well as print them if needed. The only downside so far is that the option to scale the recipes (e.g. from 4 to 8 servings) is only a feature for Premium (paying) members. Boo!

Another handy use for my tablet will be to collect ukulele song sheets -- again for the purpose of going paperless. It's about time!

Family Bowling

We did something a little different this Sunday: in addition to our traditional family dinner at my parents', we all went bowling together! Garrison Lanes was hosting a family event, which included two rounds of bowling, pizza, drinks, and snacks. Bonus: it was all in black light!

Loving my laces

Y'all ready??

It was cute to watch the kids get excited about their shots and cheer each other on, despite the fact that there were no gutter bumpers (so quite a few balls ended up in the gutter). This was Caleb's first time bowling!

Choosing their favourites

Holding "Meatball" and "Blobby"

Me and "Potato"

Watching that ball go

Making memories! ♥