Popsicle Stick Joke of the Day and homemade popsicles

Since it is summer, popsicles have made their way into our house. The kids really like the popsicle with the jokes on them. We have little sticks all over the house with jokes. So here is one we like.

What are prehistoric monsters called when they sleep?
A dinosnore!

Popsicle consumption here is not limited to store bought. We also like to make our own. Making smoothies turned into saving the leftovers for popsicles. Just a few cups, sticks, fresh picked blueberries and, of course, mini-marshmallows - T loves those things - and we had popsicles.

Not Quite Snow White

Not that I have ever agreed with it (i have the same hair and skin color.. that's it), but people have said that I look like Snow White. I never thought I did until saw this picture. I might not look like her right now, but I definitely have felt like she feels in this picture. My husband isn't as slack as the prince is here, but just the overall jist of the picture struck me.

I saw this from How About Orange who linked to it from here. Totally worth the time to click through and look at the other pictures. Some interesting commentary on the views of women in society now; myself, not necessarily agreeing with them all.

Side Note - I was trying to type this up and T was smooching me all over my arms and cheeks. I asked him to hold off for a minute so I could type and he said he couldn't help it. He said "I just love to kiss you momma because you smell like you." That just makes all those angry Snow White moments melt away.

E took this picture blueberry picking last week or her bro. I found that she has the ability to really catch some great views of us all. I have taken to giving her the camera on our excursions just to see what she sees. I will post more of those later.

Family Art Night

We like to draw together as a family but not in a formal " Ok guys we are going to sit down now and draw together sort of way." After reading this post by Soulemama the other day, I decided we should try it after Sunday dinner. I am soo glad we did.

T and E really enjoyed it. At first, we just started to draw. No rules, just draw. We did that for like 15 minutes. Then we all took turns dictating a theme to draw on. T wanted to go first. He decided we all had to draw squirrels. Oh boy. Topics ranged from your favorite dessert to your favorite activity. They really had a blast.

We will definitely do it again. We posted our finished creation up in the living room and they look at it all the time.

Family Art; the best kind.

My NPR Name

I am a total NPR fanatic. I never even listen to commercial radio - to the chagrin of all the commercial people in the world. No money to be made off of me - sorry.
Its my mom's fault really. We listened to Morning Edition everyday driving to high school. Then in college while traveling around, my little Honda could only get certain stations. No matter where I traveled, some station carried NPR. It was great. Even my college town had an all day all NPR station.

Well today I read this and it made me laugh. I too have thought about those hosts and reporters name.
Edit - I totally read the rules wrong. These are the right ones. Oops
Following their name rules ( pick a letter from your middle name and insert it into your middle name then add the furthest small foreign town you have ever visited) I sort of failed. I haven't been anywhere out of the country (Tijuana doesn't count here) So I pick my trip to Bemidji, Minnesota - Sort of foreign, especially with that HUGE Paul Bunyan that Tara and I saw. Picture to prove it somewhere.


So I would be Cearey Bemidji. Still not cool enough for NPR. Joey is Jofey Alabaster.

Found

I guess I did get a picture of the Hot Cross Buns from the Artisan Bread people.
Yum.
I should make those again.

Guitar Inspirations.

I don't remember where we found out about this video (go now and watch... we can wait) (Wasn't that cool?) but we were linked to it somehow in the blog world. Anyway, besides it being a cute song, it has been inspirational to E. She is taking guitar lessons, which is so fun to watch her learn. This video showed her the strength and independence a woman has with her music.She really tripped out on how Priscilla Ahn can do three things at once. Oh and the footpetal repeater thingy -- so not the technical term -- was a big hit too.

I feel this responsibility to show her that artistic expression is a sign of strength and not weakness. She is very modest with it all and I want her to know power in personal expression. Of course, this all comes from a personal issues within me, my own insecurities, but whatever. I get to help mold her to be stronger and better than I am.

I didn't know that raising children would be like this... like watching little personalities unfold right in front of you. What a pleasant surprise.

Must Knit This Berry Baby Hat

I must make this. I don't know who for, but damn, that is cute. I made a pumpkin hat for T when he was a brand new baby. I don't even think I got pictures of it.

But that is a cutie.

Cool Little "Clementine" Video

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

My Kids like to go to You Tube and watch videos. I pick out some and share them with them. Most of the time, I found out about them from ther blogs like this one. We have some favorites. Here is one they like a ton. Nice music, great exposure to different stuff and visually great.

Enjoy.

A taste of Summer in April

Two weeks ago, I got to have a taste of summer. Not in the heat and "what-can-we-do-now-Mom?" part, but the fun parts. My favorite part of summer is what I call Playing Stay Home Mom. Being a teacher allows me to have 10 weeks off with the kids. We settle into this beautiful routine of discovering our adopted home. I love this area and can't seem to get to know it all. I think if we would have stayed in our home state, I don't know that I would have felt the need to get out and do as much as I do here.

This picture is of us at the Smithsonian Darwin exhibit. My mom came and really wanted to see it. We packed up for a day at the museum, as did half of the east coast. We had fun all the same and really kept our spirits up.

knitting for kids

I made this for E for Christmas. It is the Tasha Tutor shawl knit in Cascade 220 Superwash. I Ravel it here. I bought the yarn at the Woolly Bully in Tallahassee, FL this summer. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it at first but then my mother asked me to help her along with the edging and I just knew I had to make it for her.

I worked on it off and on for awhile. I finally finished it on the 17 hour drive down to my parents. I think I like best the way it really is holding up well. The yarn looks great even after it has been dragged across the floor of an elementary school, dragged on and off a bus, and finally down the street to our house. She has used it to carry dolls around the house and to snuggle up on the couch.





This is why we knit these things; to wrap them in our warmth even though we aren't there.

I love that she loves it!

Children

Sometimes... I swear... they grow right in front of you. E came home the other day and she looked like she grew while she was at school. I tried to capture it on camera and it was impossible. Her face just changed. I blinked and the old E was gone.

Easter Peeps

Well not my take on it - but lots of other people's ideas of peeps. We have looked forward to this contest each year. This year we went and looked at the slide show

Maybe next year we will enter, but with what topic? A mother crafting with her kids, gardens with veggies eaten by a deer? So many of life's trials to show in a peep.

It could be peep-tacular!

sewing

I made these pants for E last week based on a pattern from this book by Heather Ross. I could have probably found a pattern in my stash that would work better for her but I really wanted to play with the pattern tracing wheel and paper. I had never done that technique before and it was cool. I made them a flare bottom because she had another pair of pants similar in style and she liked it. Plus that gives her a little bit more freedom of movement. We just happened to have a shirt that matches it perfectly which just thrilled E to no end.

I got the material at Jo-Ann's recently. E and I ran in there for something and she saw that fabric and declared they would be perfect for pants. I don't naturally look at purple owl material and think "Why wouldn't that make great pants?" But then that is why we have 8-year-olds.

She likes them and I guess that is all that matters.

Hot Cross Buns

I saw this post and just knew I had to make these. I have the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. We have been making bread almost daily since the new year. It was my resolution. But I have just started making the variations from the book. So fun.

Honestly, I had never had one until recently when we went into Panera one morning with the kids on my way to work. They had cut up some and they really tasted pretty good. I mixed it up yesterday morning. I substituted some white whole wheat flour into it - just to make me think I might be making something more healthy - and I used the base recipe for challah, not the brioche for the same lame healthy excuse.


Here is mine all mixed up.


I would show you a picture of them done... lets just say they are pretty much gone. They were that good.

Yum!

Gardening

I don't really know what I am doing. For years, I have listened to my mother talk about gardening. I have always been interested in it, but in a different way than her I think. I like flowers, but don't really focus on them. Food though, always a passion. I love the idea of growing my own food and cooking with it. I like the independent nature of the experience; the control over the process. I have always had a rebellious streak and I think growing my own food is a natural extension of it.

So today I got a huge chunk of my garden done. I have expanded my vegetable bed from last year and had 3 more beds. Basically tripling the amount of footage I have to plant. I need it too. Our eyes are bigger than our garden, so to speak.



T got into it too.

Trial and Error

I have thought about this before. Not sure if it is worth putting out there. Maybe just secretly for a little bit. We'll see.

He looks so optimistic though. Like he could take on the world. Very real.