Check this out

I am not meaning to go all political on everyone here, trust me, i am the last one to do so. I don't enjoy politics at all in fact this election is totally stressing me out. All this to say, I enjoy reading this blog. She has lots of great ideas and funny stories. In light of the current election that is fast upon us i enjoyed her recent post called Toddler Economics. For a little background on her story you might check this previous post. Isn't it amazing how well even little kids catch on to something like this? Check it out.

Bug Works

i know, much like my friend Deanna, when it rains it pours blog entries. I recently came across a fabulous blog that is all about teaching montessori style and has regular updates on different works trays to use called My Montessori Journey. This blog had a recent post for a Halloween work with bugs(i think hers was spiders but all i had was little ants). I thought it was timely and it would be a fun thing for Mitchell especially, since that boy loves the bugs! Here is ours all set up...the glass cup with the ants, tweezers to transfer them over with and a small muffin tin to place them in. They dove in right away...it was such a hit there was even some fighting. Not that i like the fighting but at least then i know they really like it. I am going to keep this one going beyond Halloween for Mitchell to use when Ave and i are doing school so he stays busy.

***I had a question about this one...so i will add this revision..You use the tweezers to transfer the bugs from the glass to the tin and back again. It helps with coordination and sorting, etc.***

Food For Colleen

It was snowing(yup, in October!!) and chilly out this week, and i was trying to decide what to make for dinner....and then i settled on this, my friend Roisin's homemade tomato soup. Col, i know you asked me for the recipe the other day, I forgot, sorry. So here it goes as best as i can translate my scribbled down recipe.

Tomato Soup

4 can diced tomato, or 2 large ones
1/2 pkg Bacon, chopped
4 lg. Carrot, chopped evenly
4 Celery stalks, chopped evenly
1 lg Onion, chopped
2-3 cans Chicken Broth

Saute the bacon and onions in the stock pot. Once the bacon and onion are well browned and onions are soft add the celery and carrot, sweat about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cover with chicken broth. Bring all to a boil. Once boiling turn down to a simmer and leave to simmer for 1 hour with lid on. Use immersion blender or transfer carefully to a standard blender,blend until all is smooth. Taste, if too tart add a pinch of sugar. Serve with a little splooge of milk(optional). This makes a very large pot. Freeze leftovers in ziploc bags. Be sure to leave out the milk if freezing.

i have made this with turkey bacon before and it works just fine...and i think it browns faster and better. I topped it with some toasted pumpkin seeds and enjoyed.

WIP, Like Usual

here is a WIP from last year. I pulled it out of a drawer and thought i would finish it up. It was stuffed away with all my other finished quilt tops and unfinished quilt tops. I guess last year i really was loving the fall colors and it was that time of year so why not. Honestly, I really should finish projects when i start them, because i am not that in love with the fabrics and colors anymore. But, i am feeling like i have to finish some things right now. The kids helped lay the blocks out for me...it was going to be random anyway so their help was appreciated. It keeps me from trying to make something random have more order. OCD!! It has been on the floor in the living room for a few days and it is like the family puzzle...i walk past then stop go back and change a few blocks around, and the kids notice then put their ten cents in. it has changed some more with the addition of a few solid blocks to make it more crib sized than play sized.

But What Will I do With a Girl?!?!?!

Those were the words he uttered the day the ultrasound tech told us we were having a girl. I looked into his worried eyes and gently assured him that he would do with her all the things he would do with a boy.

True he has had to play polly's and dress up and many rounds of pretty pretty princess or pick a posey...But there have been just as many wrestling matches, ball tosses and power tools. Note the continued new phenomenon of making faces when mom has the camera out!

He is a good daddy. Teaching her how to do many things on her own. I imagine when she is all grown up she will be changing her own oil and making her own bookshelves(or whatever else). By the time they were done building this bird house she was a champion nail pounder!

She is so proud of that birdhouse. She has been wanting to make on for ages, but this week it was part of school and daddy jumped right in with all the supplies and they made this perfect home for some lucky bird.

Under Pressure

I work way better under pressure. One of the little girls at Mitchell's school was having a birthday this week and i wanted to make her a little something that she could remember us by when she moves back to India. At midnight the night before i got all the fabrics cut and ready for this crayon roll-up and sewed it up quick in the morning. It came together really well, and the pattern was easy to follow. I had plenty of scraps in the scrap bin to choose from. I was thinking about making these for some of the little people i know for handmade/homemade Christmas.

More Firsts

yup, more firsts for my little lady. She had her first piano lesson this week. She did such a great job. Teacher says she is a natural. She has been been practicing and practicing and showing us her hard work whenever she has a chance. She can not wait for lesson 2! Before long i just may have a little maestro on my hands.

Fall at Home

This is my one and only attempt at decorating for fall. I made these leaves with wool felt last fall, and i almost forgot that i had them until i saw some similar on a blog somewhere. It took a little time to hunt them down since they have been stashed away for a year but they are here now! And they were stashed away with a beautiful garland of beads that a sweet friend gave me, and that i love. I am glad though. Since we have put the house on the market it feels to me like a little bit of us has gone out of the house. Like it is so much more impersonal, cold kind of. i even get a little angry when we are cleaning for a showing or a open house. We scramble to find places to put some things away when they really have no place to go other than out in the open, because in a real home in a real life things are out there and messy and unorganized sometimes. So these few homey things are making me feel better. I smile when i walk by. These pictures do not do it justice but that is because we have not had much good picture taking weather lately...pretty rainy and dark. It's fall.

Rainy Fall Fun

CAUTION!!! Post overloaded with pictures of fun, fun, fun!!! We got to spend a afternoon with my wonderful Aunt and Uncle. We drove out to a local farm where they had a corn maze and a whole farmyard full of fun activities for the kids.
Mitchell and Avery got to ride these "horses" and pretend that they were cowboys "la-sue-ing" a bull. This time Mitchell caught himself. I love that smile.
One of the turkeys in the farmyard got loose. I think it thought we were a threat of some kind. It followed the kids around slowly while the rode this track, but as soon as Avery got up to leave, it started running after her, she started running in panic and it just did not go well...screaming, mud, slipping...you get the idea.
But Daddy saved the day and shooed that crazy turkey away. I love the look on her face as she rides around this corner, like she is not so sure about it being there.
the kids getting their dance on!!
the corn was higher than we ever imagined it would be. The kids happily followed Aunt D all through the maze, like little chickens.
My family of farm animals...see Mitchie peeking up there in the goat!
i think he is giving us a good loud "Yee-haw" here after catching a bull.

NO he is not about to run her over...!

One of the things there was this little bunny town. He is hard to see but there is one right in front of Avery. Very cute! They all had to use the hand pumps for the ducky races. I think Mitch and Avery each won one race.

How many people can you get in one giant hamster wheel?

Aunt D was a good sport and pushed Mitchell around the whole race track since his little legs were too short to reach the pedals. A good day was had by all.

Help in the Kitchen

We made applesauce! I "stole" this food mill from my mom while we were there this past weekend. The kids were so excited to help and be a part of making applesauce with the apples they picked and the mill that i remember using when i was little with my mom. We are making memories. I sure hope that they remember them! I love that each of the kids managed to sneak into the pictures. Apparently Avery's new thing is to be silly when the camera is out. Chris asked if he should get out of the way but i wanted him to stay. Because this is the way we really are, always crammed up on top of one another, even though there is a huge house to roam around in. And the applesauce, it was delicious!

OK, I'll play along!

My friend Kim "tagged" me with this little game....to show you the 6th picture in my 6th folder, and explain it! Well, here it is. This is a picture that Chris took of a little bird, a titmouse, at one of the feeders outside of our kitchen window. The kids had built these with milk jugs for a science project as part of Avery's science lessons.There are two feeders with different kinds of seed in them. It was to find out what food the birds like better. The weather had just gotten cold so the it was the first time these birds had been back to our yard. All of this is very exciting i know! It seems the titmice prefer sunflower seed. :o) SO, tag you are it! I am going to pass this little game on to my wonderful friends... Sarah, Mary and Deanna. I can not wait to see what your picture is. If anyone else wants to play along, go for it, just post a comment and let me know so i can check your picture out too.

More Pickin'

finally it let me put some more pictures on the old bloggy. These are some of my favorites from our apple picking trip. I hope that we can go again.

Apple Picking

this is going to be the post that almost never was...i have been trying to get it together for days. It is not a hard thing...just a few fun things about our day apple picking.

About how it happened way to quickly... how we chose a spot and then in 10 minutes we were done. I was trying to pick and take pictures at the same time but it just was not working. I was frustrated. I was trying to have fun but it was hard. In my memories apple picking took some time so there was a bit of a let down when we were done so quickly.

I have one very efficient picker that was banned after he filled the first of 2 bags before any of us had picked even 10 apples all together. And about how when you see the bags of apples in the orchard there does not seem to be many, but when those bags are on your kitchen counter there are way more than one girl knows what to do with.

About how i could not get the computer to work and now i can not get the pictures to load. I have tried 4 times. It is making me nuts. So those pictures will follow soon, my favorite pictures...barring anymore technical difficulties.