Techy Bling

My husband came home from work awhile back and showed me an unwanted processor he planned to make into a key chain. I saw the potential as well in that little gadget and asked him if he could get me one too.

It was sparkly and pretty and unique. I thought it would make a really interesting necklace. My man put the hole in it and added a ring.

Also, it's kind of a nod to my computer whiz hubby!

Maggie's Tea Party

My little Maggie is a lover of beauty. She can find beauty in most anything, and gushes over the simplest things, saying "that's so pretty" or "that's so nice". So for her birthday party, the emphasis was on beauty. She wanted a dress-up party, so I set out a stack of fancy hats and a box of dress-ups.
On the menu was raspberry tea, lemonade, and an assortment of treats, including popcorn and pretzels. I made lemon bars, and this recipe was fantastic. So, so good. For the birthday cake, I made cake cones and used twinkie filling for the icing.

I made paper pom-poms; fun, easy, and they were so pretty.

Everything turned out lovely, and Maggie was pleased.

Ta-da! Girls' Room Before and Afters Part Two

I can finally show you our girls' room! We really wrapped up this project quickly, but I had just a couple things left that I needed my husband's help with. My vision for this room was inspired by my oldest daughter's love for horses. I didn't want a manufactured horse-themed room, however. I was hoping to achieve a sweet room that would make you think of riding horses in a meadow. The colors were inspired by the quilt (used on the top bunk) that my husband found in some of his old stuff: pale green, yellow, and touches of red.

In case you missed it, here is the before.

After!

For the curtains, I used a king size sheet cut down the center to make two panels. Years ago, I spotted some curtains in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog trimmed in ric-rac. I always wanted to copy the design, and I really like the way these turned out. The ric-rac is red, yellow, and pale blue. The beauty of making your own curtains is you can get a grand look for not a lot of money. These curtains are ultra long and full.

The desk was a sewing cabinet collecting dust in the garage. It was cheap brown wood with outdated knobs. New paint, new knobs, new look! It has lots of drawer space for art supplies. The chair is a favorite of mine from long ago.

Instead of spelling the girls' names out on the wall like we did in the old room, I just used their first initial tied onto each girls' bed. There's a touch of red in the ribbons.

The lantern above the top bunk was in the old room, paired with a pink one. My husband changed the switch on it, moving it from the bottom of the cord closer to the top. Then we swapped out the bulb for a 15 watt one. Now she uses it as a reading light, and it's not so bright that it will wake baby sister below! Cool, huh?

Here's a pic of the lantern after I finished the sleeve for the cord. Also something I saw in Pottery Barn.

Fun banner made from wool and fabric scraps. It's hung with twine and 70 cent knobs from Hobby Lobby.
The peg hanger was in the old room, and was painted white. There's the red I wanted.

Fabric swatches in embroidery hoops. The toile fabric has horses in it.

We love this room! I love that I was able to use so much of what we already had on hand. And, I am now a believer in bunk beds. I didn't think I liked them so much before, but they sure free up lots of floor space! So glad to have this project done.

Lovey Dovey Embroidery

I made my husband one of these for his office as a Valentine's Day gift. I can tell you he was rather charmed. It was so cute, and I had been itching to do one for our home.

Wouldn't this make an adorable wedding or anniversary gift for a couple?

Spring Love

Every spring I say spring is my favorite season. Then fall comes and I say fall is my favorite season. So glad I don't have to choose.

It may sound corny, but I can't stop marveling at the dogwood blossoms or the smell of the lilacs on the breeze.

Royal Wedding

In celebration of today's royal wedding, we got out the fancy china, and had tea and scones for breakfast. I read aloud to the kids about queens and kings in London, Big Ben and Parliament. And we may have practiced our British accents just a bit.
One of the many things I love about homeschooling is scrapping your regular curriculum once in awhile and learning about something related to what's going on in the world.

And we get to do it all in our pajamas and fancy hats.

Superhero Birthday Party

There is no shortage of superhero party ideas out there, but I thought I'd share our fun little celebration we had for Jack. Our kids love to play superheroes. It's a good party theme for our little circle of friends, because it works for boys and girls. I told the moms that my kids would be dressing up, so they could plan for their little ones. I also had some extra stuff in case someone came unprepared.

We kind of went with a "Superhero Training Camp" thing. Our first activity was "What is your Superhero Name?". My husband made these name tags, and he wrote everyone's name tag for them. This was a hoot! We all had to call the kids by their names all evening. One of my favorites was "Metal Man". Metal Man's costume was made out of foil.

Then we had an obstacle course. The object was to get past the bad guy and save the baby in the play house. The bad guy was played by one of the dads, who was wearing a scary mask and waving a weapon. Again, more hilarity.

Next was a relay race. My husband explained to the kids that as a superhero, you would have to be able to change out of your normal clothes into your superhero clothes quickly. We lined the kids up in two lines and each line had a pile of clothes. The kids had to race to put on a coat, hat, and tie and race around a tree and back. So fun!

I had a final game of "Rid the City of the Kryptonite". I spray-painted a few rocks fluorescent yellow, and the plan was to hide them around the yard and have the kids look for them. We didn't get to this one, but I think it would have been a hit.

We feasted on wings, nachos, pepperoni rolls, grapes, carrots, and this favorite of Jack's. My mom made her beautiful cupcakes, and my husband and I made the toppers for them. I also passed out store-bought superhero popsicles instead of ice cream.

This was really a good time. I don't know what I'll do when all of my kids outgrow these parties; I really enjoy having them!

Some Random Things in a Hurry

Sorry for the delay in posts. My husband had my computer at his office working on it, and we were in the midst of our birthday marathon around here. When things settle down, I hope to post some of our birthday party stuff, and part two of Girls' Room Before and Afters.

In the meantime, I thought I'd post some links of projects and finds along with an overview of what's going on around here. Sound good?

This project is super cute! I think peeps are fun, but I'd honestly rather look at them than eat them! I don't know if I'll get to this or not, but someone should.

I found these reusable straws some time ago, and finally decided to purchase some. We love them! We go through straws so quickly that I think they are worth the investment for us. I did wait for a sale however, because they are pricey.

We also added to our hens recently. Twenty-seven of various breeds ordered from here. We have loved raising chickens; it is really so easy, and having our own eggs has been great. Raising pets has never been our strong point, but we have had great success with chickens. My husband and I talked for years about getting chickens. I can't even remember when we started talking about it, maybe even before we were married. We always thought it would be a good opportunity to teach responsibility to our kids, and it certainly has. Our two oldest, ages eight and six, are able to gather eggs, feed and water the birds, and even clean out the coop.

Speaking of eggs, I made this for my husband and I for dinner one night after the kids went to bed. We occasionally wait to eat dinner together alone after bedtime. I make something easy and fun for the kids, like pancakes and chocolate milk, and then we can have a relaxing dinner alone. We loved this meal, and it's definitely something that I'll make again. So, so good.

And please...this is so super fun. We love Starbucks. There is one located about five minutes from our house, and we frequent there. Awhile ago, when we pulled up at the drive-through (all six of us), the guy knew our order. It was funny and frightening at the same time.

Okay, there you go. Just needed to clear the cobwebs off of this space! Have a good rest of the week!

Reflections on the Birth of a Boy

My oldest son turned six today...six! I simply can't believe it. When I was pregnant with him, having had a girl first, I couldn't imagine what loving a boy would be like. I'll never forget getting to know him at the hospital during the hours after he was born. Nursing him in the dark while my husband slept in the chair next to me, it happened. I fell in love. I will never forget what he looked like. He was tiny, and his little head popped out of the tightly-wrapped white hospital blanket. That little head was covered in perfectly spiked black hair. I can remember just staring at him; he was just beautiful.

Today we celebrated his birth with a breakfast of cinnamon rolls he requested, a picnic lunch at the park, and dinner out with some friends. There were gifts, but this one had to wait. I'll be finishing it up tomorrow.

I'm so very thankful for this sweet, adventurous boy. His zest for life is inspiring and addictive. What a gift he is!

Girl's Room Before and Afters, Part One

We started a few weeks ago redecorating our girls' room. Then things got complicated. We had homeschool testing, people got sick, and our birthday marathon began. We have four birthdays in our family in less than a month. That drives me crazy. Anyway, now I'm scrambling to get done.

Here are some before shots.

Notice the room also needs a good cleaning. I'm into multi-tasking.

Now for the nice clean, freshly painted and wallpapered version:

You can't really tell in the photo, but the green on the wall is wallpaper. It has a tiny cream dot pattern. I originally wanted something floral, but when we saw this we loved it. Wallpaper was our big splurge, as was the crown molding. I can't imagine wallpapering a whole room; that stuff is really expensive.

We have new bunk beds to bring in, but everything else for the room I'm either sewing or we are bringing in from elsewhere in the house. I "shopped" our garage for some things, and we re-painted a couple of pieces. I think for the girls' name letters, I'm going to just use their initial and hang with ribbon.

Stay tuned for the big reveal!

Permission to Throw in the Towel

Math has always been a difficult thing for me to teach, and it was never my favorite subject in school. In the first grade, I remember having trouble counting by two's. I just didn't understand the point of it all, and the teacher was less than patient. She was standing over me with a mad face, trying to get me to understand. I think about that often when I'm trying to help my little girl with math. She's like I was, good at reading, writing, and spelling. Math is a little tougher for her; and you'd think I'd understand and just be sweet and patient and make her some cookies and milk. But sometimes I get frustrated when she doesn't get it, and I just don't know how to help her.

We were having a rough time one day last week while I was going over some new material in preparation for our homeschool testing this week. She just didn't get it, and I was resembling that teacher from the first grade. I was trying to make her understand something she just wasn't ready for. How unfair. If six year old me was standing there, she would've kicked me in the rear.

Well, we took a break, then I decided to throw in the towel. I left the kitchen in a mess and books all over the table, and we took off- out to lunch and to a pond at a local high school to feed the ducks. It was just the ticket. I like to be real with people, so I'll say that our little trip wasn't without frustrations. I had to tell Maggie to sit down three times during lunch, and Jack stepped in the pond after I warned him many times to be careful. That being said, it was a refreshing time.

From now on, I plan to give myself permission to push the books aside. Math will always be around; it will be here when my little girl is ready to conquer it. She, however, is growing up, and I want to remember to spend precious time with my children now.

Plum Crisp: Y.U.M.M.Y

I've never been a big fan of plums, but when I saw them for fifty cents a pound back in the fall, I wondered if they would make a good crisp. I mean, come on, if you sprinkle something with sugar and roast it, it's bound to taste better right? Right!
I can't believe this fruit I've passed up for years is so good baked into a crisp. I made this a couple times in the fall, and then I couldn't find anymore plums. Last week I found them for fifty cents again, and I wasted no time in bringing them home to be cooked into crisp-y goodness.
You could use your favorite apple crisp recipe to make this, if you have one. For years I tried to follow apple crisp recipes, but I was always changing and adding to get the results I wanted. The topping part was never oat-y enough for me, or it was always too greasy. Also, there was never the right crisp to fruit ratio for me. (I get that I'm picky.) I also don't like to kill fruit with sugar, so I always go easy on the sugar in desserts like this.
Try my topping recipe on plums, or use your own! I just wanted people to know that plums rock in a crisp. And maybe someone has already discovered this...

Plum Crisp

7-8 plums
Slice into wedges, kind of thin, so they will bake quickly. I got about 8 wedges per plum.
Sprinkle with about 2 TBS sugar, toss together and put into a casserole dish.

1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter
Stir together the first four ingredients, then cut in your butter.
Spoon over your sugared plums, and bake on 375 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until golden and your fruit is tender.

I know you'll want to top this with whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream.

Swoon.

Twinkie Cakes!

My mom used to make us these yummy little cakes that we called twinkie cakes. They tasted just like a twinkie, only better. The secret is in the filling, which I'm going to share with you. When I started making them for my kids, I began rolling them in sparkly sugar and calling them fairy cakes. Whatever you call them, these are really good and really simple. I made them for Valentine's Day this year, and colored the icing pink.
Just use your favorite yellow cake recipe, or yellow cake mix. I really like a cake mix for a treat like this, because it lets you get to the fun (and delicious) stuff faster. This time I used a yellow cake recipe from my old faithful Good Housekeeping cookbook, but I've used a cake mix many times as well.

Twinkie Cakes (aka Fairy Cakes)

1 recipe yellow cake made into cupcakes, but don't use liners! At the end, you're going to cut them open, so you want to keep the sides intact. Just give the muffin tin a spray with cooking spray.

Twinkie Filling

Combine 1 cup milk and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring just about constantly until it makes a thick paste. It's going to get thick really quickly, so just stir until it thickens then remove from heat. Now let it cool just a bit, then pop the pan into the fridge to chill.

After the paste is nice and cool, it's time to finish making the filling. Now beat 1 stick of butter and 1/2 cup crisco together in your mixer for 4 minutes.

Then, add 1 cup confectioner's sugar and 1 tsp vanilla and beat another 4 minutes.

THEN add your chilled paste, and yes, beat yet another 4 minutes. It's going to pay off, I promise you.

It's okay to have little bitty chunks in the filling, they will be few and far between.

All right, now just halve your little cakies and fill them up. Around here, we like things sparkly, so if you are so inclined, roll the edges carefully in some chunky sugar or sprinkles.

You can also use this filling to fill and ice whole cakes. It goes really well with a rich chocolate cake. In fact, the filling recipe will probably make more than you'll need for the cupcakes, so why not make that cake too, and then invite me over to help you eat it!

A Good Time

Our family was blessed to be able to spend a few days in the mountains with childhood friends and their families last week. I knew that I would spend a lot of time laughing- a lot, but I wasn't anticipating long talks about the gospel and God's grace in our lives. It was so refreshing and encouraging to see God at work in the lives of dear friends. Our God is so faithful.

Kiddos spying some turkeys.

Good food. You know there was food.

Old friends catching up. That's Joanna, me, and Carrie on the steps of our cabin.

We were so excited about this trip, and I wasn't really ready for it to end. It was just such a good time. I could have spent a week with these people. The time together really exceeded my expectations, and I'm hoping we can make it a yearly event.

Valentine's Day Crafting

I have always loved Valentine's Day.  Who doesn't love roses, paper heart doilies, pink, and sappy love songs?  Okay, lots of people I'm sure!  But I am such a romantic at heart.  It is such a great time for crafting, and even if you don't sew or aren't really crafty, there is still lots of opportunity for crafty fun.

I pulled this out a couple weeks ago, and today me and the kids did a little crafting.  I was thinking about something for the kids to put their valentines in, and I thought it would be nice to have something out now that we could leave little treats and love notes in over the weekend.  I had lots of brown paper bags, so we decorated one for each of the family.  Each bag is closed with a clothes-pin with a paper heart glued on.

If you're looking for gifts, this was a big hit with my husband last year.  I made one for him to put in his office, and it turned out so well that we made another one for our home.  We've since given one out for Mother's Day as well.  I just bought pre-cut poster board and a fat sharpie to make the letters.

Here is another craft I did last year.  I bought flour sack kitchen towels and red fabric paint.  I used cardstock to make a heart stencil, then stuck a paper doily onto the towel with spray adhesive.  Then, I sponged the paint onto the towel over the doily (using my stencil), then carefully peeled the doily off.  This was not an original idea, but I can't remember where I saw it.  I think this would make a sweet gift for a lady used as wrapping over a loaf of homemade bread.

Hope you are finding fun ways to spread the love this year!