Geo Board

I recently decided that every birthday in our home should include a homemade gift.  Our little girl's birthday is coming up in December and this geo board will be included in the presents!  I simply cut a 6x6 piece of scrap plywood and modge podged fabric to it, used a glue gun on the ribbon, and pushed/hammered in clear push pins.  Hair bands will create all kinds of shapes and fun!  I used all things I already had bringing in the cost for this project to $0!

Herbs & Spices & Baby Jars, Oh My

For some time now I've longed to have all my spices and herbs in the same type of containers.  I even had a gorgeous milk glass set that I loved, but alas it only had about a dozen bottles to the set and most of the labels were spices that I don't keep on hand.  Along came baby food jars (and a convenient though odd space between my stove and the kitchen cabinets perfect for my "spice cart").

I simply wrote out the labels on construction paper and Mod Podged them onto the lids.  Voila!

Macrame

I just want to give a shout out to the decade in which I was born.

Bandana Bag

My husband has a huge collection of bandanas that he's acquired over the years and he let me peruse them for use in my new bag. I used the butt of two pairs of jeans for plenty of inside storage space. I love it.







I'm currently working on sewing a cloth diaper with the instructions from this book. I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to use it as a diaper, but they make the best burp cloths.

Birthday Fun

Ok, so the cat's out of the bag for those of you who know when my husband's birthday actually was; you now know how non-recent my posts can be, BUT for the rest of you, we can go on pretending this blog is an up to date report of my favorite things. We recently (eh hem, relative term here) celebrated Jake's birthday along with two of his good friends who also share birthdays around the same time, and significant ones at that (35 is very significant b/c you can run for president). We had a good ole potluck, some marshmellows by the fire and the yummy cake pictured here. I'm excited to see what God is going to do in the next 30 years!

Wet Times

Although potty training is not necessarily one of my favorite things, this picture is. Maybe his pre-reading mind will receive some kind of osmosis from his reading material.

First Pattern

I recently completed my first knitting project following a pattern; a toddler cardigan. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned it out and thankful to my model for so graciously donning a girl's sweater for 30 seconds.

Sous Chef

It's great having a willing and able assistant in the kitchen these days. Yes, it tends to be messier (honestly not by much) and yes, it requires more patience and less "perfection" (and let's be honest again, we could all do with less "perfection"). Here is my little sous chef buttering the tops of Crescent Chicken Bundles, a family favorite!

Games

Zane has been into games lately and it's been tons of fun. In fact I woke up from a nap on the couch the other day with his face 2 inches from mine, deck of cards in hand saying, "Play this?" Here we are playing Spin and Go. He also enjoys war and just watching me play solitaire (with real cards, not on the computer). I think we'll tackle chess next. Just kidding maybe Memory or Chutes and Ladders.

Granny Squares and the Internet

What do they have in common? Just that they are the topics of today's post. I figured out how to make granny squares and I've been mass producing them ever since. I'm not quite sure what I will make with them, but the possibilities are exciting...

Here's my very first one.

Now, on to the internet. There is an explanation to the lack of consistent posts, we no longer have internet at home. I sometimes feel at a loss without it. On the other hand I'm pretty happy with what I find myself doing that I know I would not take the time to do if I had internet access to occupy my time. And then there's the debate on the internet community verses "true" community... I haven't come to any steadfast conclusions on that, but as I stopped by a friend's house to tap into her wi-fi, we got caught up on life as we had a chance to chat and I even got a delicious cucumber hummus sandwich to boot. Not bad for building community.

Hat Trick

I've been on a hat crocheting frenzy lately and thought I'd show you the results. Zane graciously took time out from his snack time to pose with Mommy for the first one. Which one is your favorite?

Backpacking vs. Camping

We used to explain our vacations as camping. Then we realized that other people's definition was a little different than ours. We don't camp, we backpack. Do you know the difference? We recently took a backpacking trip in the Adirondacks for a week. Here are some highlights. I tell you, this is the way to go for us. Hubby is so thankful that I'm even willing to spend our vacations this way and he's so into it that he loves doing all the work so do you know what I have to do? Absolutely nothing. A true vacation.

Finally...

Finally a post and finally the after pictures for our yard! It's still a work in progress, but it has come a long way. My problem was I would do a little yard work here, a little there, and there was always a large patch of yard somewhere overgrown and unhappy. This summer I was able to spend an entire day on the yard and finally felt like I was making progress. So I took a bunch of pictures so I could remember what it's like to have everything looking good at one time. It's on my list of things to do to have more days that I concentrate totally on yard work. Wish me luck!

If You Love Paper...

And I do. I'm also very fond of jars. If you find yourself with the same likes check out today's easy crafty project here.

Perennials are a Girl's Best Friend

For those of you who don't know, we moved into the house of an avid gardener of about 50 years. The same owners have lived in the house since it was built in the 1950's. Mrs. Miller improved and perfected her gardens throughout the duration of her living in our lovely home. Unfortunately, the last 4 years or so of her living here she was ill and couldn't tend to any of it. Enter the novice gardener into a jungle of LARGE weeds and overgrown everything. Last year my excuses were that I had a new baby, I hate hot weather, and I didn't even know what was weeds and what was the good stuff. I no longer have a new baby, the weather has been mild and now I can identify those nasty weeds in my sleep. Excuses gone, I've been enjoying cultivating, weeding, learning, and transplanting. A major perk of all of Mrs. Miller's years of garden love is that she planted all different perennials that bloom at different points throughout the summer. There's always something beautiful in bloom. The peonies are on their way out and I have a beautiful yellow lily that's just coming out now.

Perks of Being a Camp Wife (and Mom)

Here's a shot from the first father/son camp out of the summer. Daddy learned what he now needs to do to make things go a little smoother, so the stage is set for a summer of mommy time, I mean father/son bonding. Really, it's both. I'm enjoying an evening of wi-fi at the local Arby's for the price of a jamocha as Father and Son are on their second camp out of the season. I wonder if Zane will gather a pile of leaves in the tent this time.

A Brave Feller

When I was a little girl, my dreams of prince charming and my frugality in the making sometimes crossed paths. For instance, I had thoughts like, "If I marry a dentist my family will get their teeth cleaned for free!" or, "If I marry a carpenter, we'll save money on furniture, kitchen cabinets, etc!"

Well, let me share the economic value my rock climbing, repelling, hard core camp husband has brought to our family. He saved us a lot of $$$ by felling 2 big pine trees in our yard all by himself. I was a little nervous, yes, but I knew he knew what he was doing and Zane and I had full confidence in him as we watched from afar.

Easiest Lasagna Ever

There's something that seems daunting to me about making lasagna. I know, it's not really that hard, but the cooking of the noodles, browning the meat, the assembly... Like I said I don't know why, it just seems daunting. But, alas, I have found the Easiest Lasagna Ever. Actually, the name of the recipe officially is Violette's Lasagna and it comes from here.

8 lasagna noodles, uncooked
1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
1/3 cup water
4 oz. can sliced mushrooms
15 oz. ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Break noodles. Place half in bottom of greased slow cooker.
2. Brown ground beef in saucepan. Drain. Stir in Italian seasoning. Spread half over noodles in slow cooker.
3. Layer half of sauce and water, half of mushrooms, half of ricotta cheese, and half of mozzarella cheese over beef. Repeat layers.
4. Cover. Cook in slow cooker on Low 5 hours.
   

Books to Check Out

Well, things are looking up in the book department. I've come across some great reads as of late and would like to pass them on.

Recycling

It's time to put away those wool sweaters, or in my case make one into a pillow because I shrank it. Some simple hand sewing was all it took to turn this thrift store cardigan into a comfy addition to our living room! Oh, and an old pillow that had stains on it.