Play For A Moment

Playroom Progress

2012-01-30T05:00:00.000-06:00

This weekend was the linky party for completed Picture Perfect rooms at Donna’s Funky Junk Interiors, and I’d hoped to have the playroom re-do completed for it. Alas, that did not happen, but she’s going to continue this challenge once a month, so I have a few more weeks to finish all those details that I think will make the room super-sweet!

Mostly what I’ve done so far is clear out the closet, rearrange toys and toy storage, spruce up the crib/daybed/reading area, and get hooks up for dress-up clothes. The small wall area that had magnet paint was covered over in chalkboard paint.

These are the Mary Englebreit posters that inspired the colors used in this room. The one on the left is the alphabet, then at the bottom says “put ‘em all together” and “read”. The one on the left is a favorite of mine, “Books fall open, you fall in”.

This small green shelf is actually a plate rack that Jess got at Goodwill a few years back. She’d painted it black and used it in her first real house of her own. Right now it holds a couple of my favorite Eric Carle books. The toys on the top of the bookshelves are all antiques, but the kids play with them and love them! The horse was apparently Greg’s when he was a little boy – no information on brand or year or anything. The wind-up radio and wind-up clock still play lovely music. No batteries needed!

I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of the vinyl skull and crossbones that were on the wall above where we had Bradley’s changing table when this room was his nursery, so when it peeled off the wall fairly nicely, I stuck it on the re-positioned full-length mirror.

These sweet little cupcake paper flowers were made by my nieces this past week. They were thrilled to help decorate the wall! Bradley and I will make more this week since I want to sweep them up towards the ceiling. The idea is in the current issue of Family Fun magazine.

The chalkboard, formerly magnet wall. Bradley insists on still putting his magnets here, even though I hung the magnetic whiteboard on the opposite wall. Trim will be added around the chalkboard paint to finish it up.

The dress-up hooks are screwed into a piece from Brad’s (now Silas’s) crib. When we first got the crib, one corner piece had no holed drilled into it for assembly. I called customer service immediately and they shipped a new one, but it took a couple of weeks. We didn’t want to wait, so Greg drilled holes in the original piece and assembled the crib. It works great, so we had the one they shipped, and no use for it. It works great for hooks for dress-up clothes and hats. The wooden stars are for beads and bags – at least they were last week while my nieces were visiting. So handy to have a place where everything could be accessed easily and put away easily.

For the crib/day bed, I found a body pillow case that was priced at what that amount of fabric would cost me, or less even, so I ordered it online. It’s pretty plain, so embellishment will be added. I did get one pillow cover sewn (the polka dots), and found that flower-shaped pillow in the closet. The girls arranged the animals and dolls before they left, when we picked up the room yesterday. ☺

The quilt has been trimmed of six inches around the outside edge all the around. I will trim it with a bright-colored binding. But what I really like about this is the checkered bedskirt on the bottom.

While I love the quilt, I want a bit more brightness to this little reading area, so I started a small afghan throw to put on it. This may take awhile to be finished, but it’s pretty fun to work on, so I’ll keep plugging away.

Aren’t the colors wonderful? The pattern is called Granny Stripe, the directions from Attic 24. Her projects and home were also inspiration for this room. As much as I love my calm and very neutral house, I do enjoy her very colorful one.

Some of the details left to do: paint the back piece of the crib and install it, paint the bookshelf, arrange the art display area, trim the chalkboard, paint the doors, and put up a few more wall art pieces. I also found the white chain we hung from the ceiling for Jessica’s stuffed animals when this was her bedroom, so I’ll probably have Greg put it up again. I’d love to find a brightly colored rug to use in here, too. It’s currently carpeted, but we plan to change that next summer and lay some kind of laminate. A rug will be needed for sure then.

Okay, all of that can be finished before the last Saturday of February, right? Then I’ll have to decide which room will be next – den? or guest/craft room? or both?

Jingle All the Way (Christmas 2012 prep)

2012-01-25T11:08:00.000-06:00

It’s the 25th, and that means only 11 months until Christmas!

Okay, I’m going to try to do at least one thing a month to prepare for next Christmas and get it posted here…

This month it’s a fun thing and it whipped up in just a couple of hours while watching TV. I found this idea on Pinterest.

This jingle bell garland is crocheted using crochet thread rather than yarn. You need to string all of your bells onto the thread before you start stitching, so it’s a constant process to move the bells down the string as you work. I got several feet done, then the string snapped – the bells had frayed the thread as I moved them. Jess used that on her Christmas tree anyway, and will tie this longer garland to the shorter one that should decorate the entire tree next year.

For a full tutorial, you can go here.

Snow Window

2012-01-24T06:15:00.001-06:00

January is traditionally the month when I use some snowflake/snowman decorations in the house. Somehow that seems a bit incongruous this winter, though, since we haven’t had much snow. (Not complaining! The past couple of years have had enough white stuff to last awhile.) Temps have been mild, almost early-Spring-like, so I really didn’t get behind the snow stuff in the house.

Then a couple of weeks ago I came across this photo on a blog:

It inspired me to gather my blue glass canning jars and do something similar in my own kitchen window:

Instead of battery-operated candles and glass beads, I used some Epsom salt in the bottoms, then added some of my collection of crocheted snowflakes inside the jars, and draped a string of white lights behind them:

This is so pretty at night, plus I get to enjoy some snow without the cold, wet, muddy mess it makes!

Linking up to Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Night Special and French Country Cottage's Feathered Nest Friday.

Picture Perfect Room (the “before”)

2012-01-14T08:34:00.001-06:00

During this first month of the new year, Donna from Funky Junk Interiors has issued a challenge: concentrate on one room in your house that you want to make “picture perfect” and then do it.

(click on the picture perfect button to read about the challenge)

This challenge would apply to every room in my house, but for the purposes of this project and in keeping my sanity, I chose to focus on the playroom.

The playroom started life as Jessica’s bedroom, then playroom, then Bradley’s nursery, and is now back to being the playroom. The original incarnation as a playroom was more of a small-scale preschool room with “centers”, thus the word labels on the walls. Those will be covered up since the room has evolved a bit.

I have not picked up in there after Christmas yet, so here’s the view when you open the door:

Not horrible, but it doesn’t really invite play, does it? I feel like it more invites chaos – dumping and tossing and general mayhem. The reason I haven’t picked up yet is because:

a. Bradley pretty much just brings the toys to the living room to play unless there is someone in there to play with.

b. There was still some of Jessica’s stuff stored in here – her Little Tykes desk, the big keyboard, some big boxes of blocks, and a big Hot Wheels storage container full of tracks and accessories. (She and Scott and the boys have moved into a big house now, so that stuff is moved, too.)

c. I knew I wanted to re-work this room, and I was procrastinating…

True confession time over, lets go around the room and see what we want to do. First of all remember, this will be a “make do”/no-$pend makeover, with the exception of some paint and perhaps a rug. Also, this room will be gender-neutral, and baby-friendly as well as fun for toddlers and preschoolers (and who are we kidding – even my elementary-aged niece and nephews like to play in here).

1.) This photo is of the North wall, Northeast corner of the room. Right now there are stacked shelves for toy storage. I’m going to take at least the top set down and put it in the closet (now that there is room in the closet…). This gets rid of some of the cluttered look in the room and gives me a little more wall space to decorate. Totes and baskets will be labeled as well so everyone knows what toys go in which container.

The quilt will be altered to work as a bedcovering on the old iron crib. It was made by my great grandmother and is badly stained and worn around the edges. I’m just going to remove the outer section all the way around and bind it with a colorful trim. Yes, it’s an old quilt. Yes, I’m okay with altering it.

The M.E. poster is pretty much the color inspiration for the room. The walls will stay light blue, but the furniture is in brights, and the wall decor will be, too.

The side rail for the old crib needs to be painted cherry red to go along with the rest. I originally didn’t plan to use it, but Aunt Jan confirmed for me that it would look better to have a back rail on the bed. This will be a reading spot, so the body pillow will be covered and a couple more pillows added so it will be a snuggly place. It also will be a guest bed for little ones who come stay here, and I will use a safety rail for the open side of the crib when someone is sleeping in it.

I also have fabric to make a bed skirt since I will use the space under the crib for storage.

The Northwest corner: The closet door will be painted white.

The spot on the wall where I tried magnet paint will be covered over in chalk board paint. (That magnet paint was an expen$ive disappointment.) Above the light fixture I’ll hang a shelf to house some of the stuffed animals.

The small bookshelf will be painted – color yet to be decided – and the sweet little display shelf that is currently sitting on top will be hung above. I have some antique toys that will go there.

The Southeast corner: the valance is constructed of a cardboard box, covered in batting and a colorful plaid fabric. There is a plain white shade at the window. That will all stay. No curtains to entice little ones to wrap themselves up in or pull off the wall. I will install a hook for the shade pull. Right now I drape it on the hardware holding the valance.

Greg built that sweet little table last summer, and the chairs were $1 each at a garage sale. The chairs are a strong hardwood and I sanded and painted them that bright yellow, knowing I wanted to use that bright color scheme.

The vinyl skull and crossbones is on the wall above where we had Bradley’s changing table. I know a nursery doesn’t usually have such a motif, but Jess was going for kind of a “rocker” theme, and it worked for us. I guess it’s time to remove it, huh?

That full-length mirror is hung horizontally and has some peg hooks beneath it. I used those hooks for different hats for the kids to use for dress-up. I’ll re-hang the mirror vertically and I have something different for hooks.

As you can see, this corner is currently the “Art Display” area. That will stay, but will be better.

Okay, long post, lots of ideas, lots of work ahead. The Funky Junk challenge is to post the completed room (or progress if not finished) by the end of the month. I’d like to get the majority of it done this weekend since my little nieces are coming to stay the last week of January.

I guess I better get busy. Wish me luck!

Hot Drinks

2012-01-04T10:49:00.001-06:00

Inspired by the many hot cocoa bars I saw online and in my email, I decided to set up a “hot drinks station” for Christmas.

I used part of my collection of antique Santa mugs, and set it up for coffee, hot tea, and hot cocoa.

Those two mugs in front were made by my mom in 1969. One has my name on the bottom, the other is Arlan’s.

Even though it’s been a very mild winter, I thought this sign was fun. The script is vinyl, cut with the Cricut and adhered to the glass. Then I just added scrapbook paper for the background.

We enjoyed this spot over the holidays with company here. I plan to set it up each year as a new tradition.

Now that the holidays are over, I put away the Santa mugs, but wanted to keep the hot drinks stuff set up – you know, just in case we get some winter weather yet.

So I replaced the Santa cups with the ones from my white stoneware, added the sugar bowl and creamer from that set, and a set of snowman salt and pepper shakers – those aren’t filled, but would be good for cinnamon or sprinkles for the hot chocolate. The tea bags and marshmallows are now in apothecary jars.

Some vinyl snowflakes on the wall, the cocoa jar, and the marshmallow jar add to the theme, as well as a wooden snowman wall hanging.

I love this fun little spot, and hope you will consider this an invitation to join me for a hot beverage!

Year in Review and Wishes for the New Year

2012-01-01T19:48:00.001-06:00

It’s New Year’s Day and time to look ahead to a fresh new year. Before we do that, though, let’s take a look back at 2011. I have a lot of pictures to share, and I didn’t get Christmas cards or a letter done, so if you don’t mind...

January found us moving Jessica and Bradley into their own home about 15 miles away after living with us for over a year. Jessica found out in late November 2010 that she and her boyfriend were expecting a baby, so they started building their new life together. We have enjoyed getting to know Scott and he’s an amazing partner for Jessica as well as father to Bradley.

I still kept Brad during the day while Jess worked full-time. I must’ve blinked, because all of a sudden, he grew from a baby to toddler.

At the end of April, I left my early morning job in preparation for caring for Bradley and the new grandboy we were expecting. It took a few weeks for me to sleep past 4 a.m., but it’s all good now.

In May, our son Nick was hospitalized suddenly after becoming quite ill. He’s doing great and living a healthier lifestyle now. He was able to join us for Halloween this year, in costume even. Don’t ask who he was supposed to be – just a generic character from a video game – I can’t be more specific than that…

Greg and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary in May, and I turned 50 in July. We celebrated by attending the Bob Seger concert in Omaha. It was a great show!

I’d like to say I’m none the worse for wear at 50 years old, but in May I fell down the deck steps, landing on my knee, and I’ve been hobbling about ever since. That, combined with the arthritis, has slowed me down a bit.

The injury kept me in my chair for a few weeks, and I wanted to be productive, so I dug out my crochet needle, invested in some yarn, and turned on YouTube for instruction. Many hours spent over several weeks found me with a pile of dishcloths for Christmas gifts, a blanket for Silas, and some winter scarves. My nephew Wyatt saw the yarn and things I was working on, and asked me to teach him, so with a few quick crochet lessons, he was on his way.

We had a fun week in June when my nieces from Sioux City visited. Tay got to go to Vacation Bible School with Randy’s kids, Reese and Brad became friends, and we enjoyed a day at the zoo.

The last day of July, at 3:26 in the morning, Jess and Scott welcomed their baby boy, Silas Paul. He’s our sweet love-bug.

In September, Jessica, the boys, and I went to Sioux City for a visit. One of the fun things we did was visit at the shop where Alan works. Bradley saw all the motorcycles in the window, yelled “GO!” and ran to the door. He wanted to sit on every bike, and was thrilled when Uncle Alan finally let him on one.

Bradley had his second birthday at the end of September. He’s a big fan of Cat in the Hat, so Jess constructed a giant hat for his cake.

Halloween was our usual fun time with Randy’s family joining us for a quick supper then trick or treating. The weather was awesome and it didn’t take Bradley long to figure out the whole “trick or treat” scheme!

In November, Jess and Scott put a bid on a house here in Benedict, and closed on it a few days before Christmas. They moved enough things to be in their house for the holiday, and the past few days have been spent painting, packing and unpacking boxes, and getting settled into their new home.

That pretty much sums up the past year for us. What do we look forward to in 2012? We know we’ll enjoy those grandboys who live just down the street from us now. They grow so fast and we don’t want to miss a minute of it. I have a list of craft/sewing/decorating projects to tackle. Greg plans to build a covered patio in the backyard. (He’ll be building lots more things if I can give him part of my list, but I’ll have to be sneaky…)

We are incredibly blessed with a happy healthy family and more, and we thank God daily. We wish you many blessings also in 2012, and if the world doesn’t end on December 21 like the Mayans say it will, we’ll try to get real Christmas cards done!

Season’s Greetings on the Front Porch

2011-12-12T03:45:00.000-06:00

After hanging garland and a wreath on the front of the deck, I pretty much blew off any more outside decorating for awhile. I got back to it yesterday, but it’s taken more than 24 hours to come up with the final display to greet visitors. In case you can’t stop by and say hi this holiday season, I’ll show you how it ended up.

It started with a few evenings of perusing the interwebs, looking at blog posts and photos on Pinterest for inspiration. I was really liking the simple, natural displays.

I gathered an old window that had been tucked away in a corner in the den, a faux greenery wreath, and the old high chair I painted and put on the porch last summer. This afternoon I shopped the house and was happy to find Dad’s ice skates hanging by a nail on the closet wall. There was a wire basket from Goodwill, a bag of pinecones the in-laws brought back from Texas in the Fall, and some random decorative “stuff”, and I was set. I love the layers, yet it’s simple and, I hope, welcoming:

From our house to yours:

Merry Christmas!

(This post is a Make Do and Mend Monday project!)

Popcorn Ornaments

2011-12-09T18:08:00.001-06:00

I made these fun glass popcorn-filled ornaments a few years ago to hang on the Christmas tree on the ticket counter at our local movie theater. The theater manager donated some boxes of old candy to add some color. This will be the fourth year they use them – they’re holding up wonderfully.

The customers just love them, and each year several of them ask what the secret is to getting the popcorn inside.

I'm going to share that secret here with you:

Supplies:

clear glass ball ornaments

unpopped popcorn (don't use the pre-packaged microwave corn that includes grease)

microwavable dishes

hot pads

First remove the metal top on the ornament and set aside. I rinsed the glass balls with vinegar and water and let dry overnight.

Put popcorn kernels in the ball - the amounts I used varied with the size of the balls. I think I counted out between 40-60 kernels per ornament.

Set the glass ball inside the microwavable dish. (Some instructions I've read say to use a paper bag, but that didn't work so well for me. Plus, I like being able to see the ornament and monitor the popping of the corn.)
Microwave on high until the kernels no longer pop. Each microwave is different, so I hesitate to put a length of time in my instructions. I just watched and listened, and when there was a count of 10 after the last pop I heard, I removed the ornament.

Keep in mind that these dishes and ornaments will be HOT when you remove them from the microwave. Use the hot pads and let everything cool before you handle them. I also had to take a few breaks and let my microwave cool off. Be warned, also, I did have a few of the glass balls break. Have some extras handy and please HANDLE WITH CARE.

Once they're cool you can shake out any unpopped kernels, then put the metal hanger back on and embellish as you desire. We added colorful candies from the theater concession stand, and hung them using ribbons.

These are an easy way to have somewhat old-fashioned decorations on your holiday tree, with a modern-day twist. Enjoy!

Decking the, um, Deck (Make Do and Mend)

2011-12-01T12:52:00.001-06:00

I did this project on Monday, which was Make Do and Mend day. Some of my other online friends post their projects, too. Just check Heidi’s blog for a list.

This one was easy and (almost) a no-brainer. While Greg’s niece Hannah was in high school, she sold greenery every year for band fundraiser. I always bought a large evergreen wreath. Now that she’s graduated, I don’t get my pretty wreath each year. I was thinking about that the other day, and remembered that I’ve kept a couple of the wire forms from them.

I dug one out of the garage at great risk to my well-being since it was hanging on the garage wall, under pieces of chicken wire and the rotisserie for the grill – all of this behind the bicycles – it was a trick to get the wreath form down without everything falling on me!

Then I found the tote with the greenery and took off the old and faded bows.

In no time there was a nice, big, albeit fake, wreath for the front deck.

Not one dime spent after I discovered a spool of ribbon in the Christmas decorations and made a fresh new bow instead of spending $5 for one at the store.

This was the beginning of holiday decorating at my house, done on a 60° late-November afternoon. Just in time to welcome the snow coming this weekend – then it will look a lot like Christmas for sure!

A Life of Thanks

2011-11-24T07:13:00.001-06:00

Well, I’m not sure how we got to the end of November already, but we’re here. The day we give thanks for our abundant blessings and then feast in gratitude!

Our Thanksgiving celebration this year is a bit different than we’ve been used to. It will be a quiet dinner here with Greg’s parents. I’ve been telling people “we’re empty-nesting” this year: Brad’s gone for visitation, Nick has to work, Jess, Scott, and Silas are going to Missouri. We’ll gather on Saturday with the rest of Greg’s family and celebrate together.

I may not have my kids and grands with me today, but to be honest, every day is one of Thanksgiving. Every day I’m thankful that I have my kids close to me and that I get to be a hands-on grandmother, the way I always imagined. Every day I’m thankful for the blessing of a long and happy marriage to a man who has made me a better person. Every day I’m thankful that we have a home and food on the table, we have clothes, and the ability to heat and cool our home. We don’t have a multitude of material things, but we have what we need.

So while today we feast in honor of the abundance in our lives, we say thanks daily for the blessings. There is a quote going around the world-wide-web that I’d like to share:

“What if you woke up today with only the things you gave thanks for yesterday?”

Be thankful today for your joys, your sorrows, and the challenges of life. Be thankful for them every day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Boy with the Tail…

2011-10-10T08:59:00.001-05:00

Everyone who knows Bradley or has read this blog, knows how much he enjoys dinosaurs. He’s recently realized that they have tails, as do the stuffed toy puppies and the real kitties, but alas, he does not. We made him a yarn tail one day, just taping it to the back of his pants. He showed the kitties and walked around with it for awhile. It was okay, but didn’t last long.

This morning I was searching the local “buy everything here” store for Halloween Peeps, when I came across an endcap full of masks and tails. No way! The dinosaur mask was ugly, but the tail, it was perfect. It has a little clip at the top to attach to his pants, yet will pull off easily if it gets caught in something (safety first!).

Bradley was here for a short while this evening, and found the tail on the counter almost immediately. He was so excited! I clipped it on and he walked around the room, watching the tail drag behind him.

It’s just the simplest of things that delight a child. They don’t need to have lots of money spent on them to have fun. This tail was a couple of dollars – but I’ll be copying it to make a few more in different colors, so he can share when playing with a friend, and he can have one at home and one here.

I think I have just as much fun watching his enjoyment!

Making Some Fun

2011-09-05T06:40:00.000-05:00

Today’s Make Do & Mend project is one from the garage. Well, kinda sorta. I’ve asked Greg to keep any large pieces of cardboard we can, and we have a small collection of big cardboard. Greg isn’t excited about keeping it, but he humors me. (I’m a lucky girl and I know it!)

Friday of last week was the first time for me to keep both grandboys here all day. I knew I’d need to keep Bradley busy while I tended to the baby, so before leaving to pick them up, I dragged out one of the smaller pieces of cardboard and put it on the back porch. Bradley saw it right away when we came up on the porch, and was excited when I brought it inside.

I drew a quick “map” using a black marker, putting Brad’s house in one top corner, and my house in the opposite bottom corner, then a maze of roads in between. Then came the fun part – a stop sign, a corn field, cows (his request), a pond with fish, trees, shrubs, a bird, and one of my kitties sitting in the window.

I labeled the drawings and Brad started coloring. I helped color a little bit, and I think we’ll be adding things and coloring them for awhile – sort of a continuous project.

Silas laid on the floor, contentedly watching the ceiling fan most of the time, but eventually did need some attention of his own, and some snuggling and rocking to sleep for a nap. To keep his big brother busy, I brought out the little cars and the box of dinosaurs. Brad thought it was great that he had roads to drive his cars, and his dinosaurs moved into my house immediately!

This project cost no money and only a few moments of time, yet we made tons of fun out of it!

Tammy

Make Do & Mend Monday

2011-08-08T21:28:00.001-05:00

It’s been a few weeks since I posted – things have been a tad busy, but no complaints. Silas is a sweet way to be busy!

I know, I could look at him all day, too, but let’s move on to my “Make Do & Mend” project.

A few years ago I made my own shopping bags and they’ve been really useful for lots of things. Mostly they keep from having to bring home a bazillion of those nasty plastic bags when I buy groceries. (Those bags multiply in the night, you know.) There used to be a big plastic bag filled (stuffed) with plastic bags hanging from a hook in the laundry room. Then there was a big paper canister from dishwasher tabs stuffed with more bags – that was tucked into a bottom cabinet. Then there was my Noah’s ark cookie jar stuffed with still more… plus the assorted few tossed on the counter waiting to be stuffed somewhere. Like I said, the cloth bags took care of bringing so many of the others in the house.

I still need a few of them, though, since I use them to clean out the litter box, for small trash bags, and for loading up with giveaway stuff for donation or to take wherever it needs to go. So once in awhile I leave the cloth bags in the car and take the plastic, and while I don’t have near the volume of plastic bags hanging around that I used to, storing them is still an issue. Well, it was an issue – until today. The other night I found this on Pinterest – using an empty wipes container to store plastic bags, and they’re folded in such a way that as you pull one out, the handle to the next pops up. Genius!

I had a Lysol wipes container that I’d just emptied over the weekend. It’s a little larger than what was used in the inspiration link, but I have plenty of bags to fill it up!

(See the ark back there? It’ll be great to empty that jar and fill it with COOKIES!)

I won’t rewrite the directions here – please visit the link to see how it’s done. I also didn’t decorate my container – it’s just going under the bathroom sink in the cabinet. I did, however, label the container so anyone who may need to replace the bag in the trash in there will know where to get one.

A little vinyl and the Cricut make lovely labels for almost everything! Obviously I just peeled off the paper label and rubbed on the vinyl one.

It is filled up with bags and snugly at home under that bathroom sink. The other one will be filled to go in the master bath as soon as the wipes are used up. You have to know that now I’ll choose my wipes by container size, because I need one of these in the garage, one in the car, and one by the litter box. No more bags of bags hanging around – yea!

My good friend Heidi is the creator of Make Do & Mend – check out her awesome projects and then visit more of my friends who are listed on the sidebar of her blog. They always have creative and inspirational MD&M’s.

Tammy

Introducing the New Grandboy…

2011-08-02T09:15:00.001-05:00

You know when the phone rings at 10:15 on a Saturday night that something is afoot. It was Jessica calling to let us know that she was on her way to the hospital in Lincoln. Contractions were 3 minutes apart, and had been going on like that for two hours. She’d had so much “false” labor over the past several weeks that she wasn’t counting on staying at the hospital, but stay she did, and at 3:26 Sunday morning she gave birth to the sweetest little boy!

His name is Silas Paul Robinson and he’s so cute we could just eat him up! Everyone thought Jess would have at least an 8-pounder this time, but he was a lean 6 lb., 13 oz., and 19 3/4” long.

Mama and Daddy are both very happy -

and his big brother Bradley just adores him!

Of course the rest of us, do, too, and we can’t wait to get to know the little guy!

Grammy Tammy

Make Do & Mend Monday

2011-07-04T09:53:00.001-05:00

This Make Do & Mend project turned out not quite the way it was intended when I finally started it, but I like it very much.

It all began out with this old high chair that I picked up at a garage sale three or four summers ago. I thought I would cut a hole in the seat for a flowerpot, and put the chair out in the garden. It was wobbly and dirty, so I put it in the garage until I took the time to deal with it.

So, that was a few years ago. That much time in my garage did it no favors as it got wobblier and dirtier. In the Spring I asked Greg if he’d power wash it to get the grime off. I was thinking I would glue it back together, paint it, and bring it inside to use for a certain little boy to use at the kitchen counter.

Power washing did the trick of getting off all the grime and the finish, but it also pretty much shredded the wood in many places. I sanded some, but the more I sanded, the more wobbly joints and disconnected places I found. The chair was rough and still kind of wobbly, and it became clear that it would be safer for my grandkids if the chair stayed outside and housed a flower pot instead.

A few coats of paint later, and here it is:

For now it is sitting on the porch by the front door. I like it there, but am not sure that’s where it will stay. The flowers are planted in an old enamel bowl that just barely fits the seat. They’ll fill out in the next couple of weeks and look a bit more lush. I’m afraid I tested their limits in the tiny pots from the store before I planted them, but they’re bouncing back nicely.

This sweet iron dragonfly is keeping watch. He’s heavy enough, he just sits on the arm of the chair without having to be fastened. I’d like to add a little something across the back of the chair, but haven’t quite figured that out yet. Something I can change with the seasons. I’ll let you know.

As always, if you want to see a few more Make Do & Mend projects, you can click this link or the button to go to Heidi’s blog where she has a list of participants on the right-hand side of her posts.

If you post a Make Do & Mend project, we’d all love to see it – leave me a link in your comment.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Tammy

Dinosaur!

2011-06-28T04:13:00.000-05:00

I realize that many of my posts about Bradley playing are of activities I’ve set up for him. He loves those, and I enjoy doing them, but this Grammy has other things she needs to tend to around the house, too, so the little man gets to play by himself plenty. His most favorite toys are the dinosaurs.

They’re just rubber/plastic/whatever, and are only $1 each at the local store. He has six now and loves each one. We know the names of most, but don’t worry about the ones we don’t know. They’re all just “dinosaur” anyway right now.

They stomp around and growl at us and each other. Sometimes they fight with each other, sometimes they kiss each other. Sometimes I have to kiss them. Recently, they began eating grass when they were playing outside.

They had been on a long ride in the hot rod and needed a rest and snack, I guess.

Most usually they’re in a natural state, as God intended, but while the girl cousins were here, the dinos were adorned in beads.

Sometimes one or two will go home with Bradley and spend the night, but they always come back and the house is filled with stomping and growling again. Growling – all.day.long. But that’s okay, because…

Make Do & Mend Monday

2011-06-27T04:43:00.000-05:00

When it comes to my crafty projects, many times I’m a copycat. I see an idea, like it, and reproduce it for myself or as a gift. Sometimes I tweak it a little to suit my tastes or be able to use the supplies available. This is one of those projects. Yes, this post got long – I do eventually show you my Make Do and Mend project. When you get done reading here, please go visit my friend Heidi at Cranberry Chronicle and take a look at what she and my other internet friends are repairing, repurposing, or redecorating in order to use what we have to make our homes comfortable and beautiful.

Several years ago a coworker mentioned that in that month’s issue of Martha Stewart living, they had suggested that if you have your liquid dish soap on the counter or by the sink, it would be prettier to put it in a glass bottle or jar. I wasn’t much into Martha at the time, but I liked this idea and found a little bottle with a pump dispenser at Goodwill just for this purpose. I forgot to get a “before” photo, so had to search my picture files to see if I’d captured said bottle in the midst of other fun times. This is the best one I found.

(Yes, the boy was having a fit. We were making chocolate chip cookies together and he wanted to eat more chips. I put them in the dough. He’d already had several. That’s the kind of mean Grammy I am. His mommy snapped this photo of his sad face.) Anyway, look past him at the blue arrow and circle and you’ll see the bottle that has held my liquid dish soap for several years. I think it was a lotion bottle originally. It works great, though, a quick squirt or two and we have sudsy bubbles for washing hands, cast iron skillets (yes, I use soap – the pans are FINE), and all other kitchen tools that won’t fit into the dishwasher.

Speaking of the dishwasher, since it gets used daily, and digging around in the cupboard under the sink is a pain, I like to keep my “tabs” in an old canning jar on the counter. I’ve used this particular jar for a few years now. It came to me in a box of assorted old jars from my grandparents. I love the “farmhouse” feel of having it on the counter, and the usefulness of having the dishwasher soap readily available.

So, several months ago as I perused some homemaking and decorating blogs I came across a few people who were using the old canning jars with zinc lids for their liquid soap. Of course I loved that look much more than the jar I was using. I do have a jar with a zinc lid, but it’s one from my grandparents and I didn’t want to essentially destroy the lid of that one, so when I was thrift shopping I kept an eye out for one I wouldn’t care about drilling a hole into. It was found a couple of months ago at the antique mall in Lincoln for $1. The jar was dirty and had something sticky all over it that took a little elbow grease to remove, but it came clean eventually.

The other day I go the hole drilled in the lid and used the pump apparatus from my original bottle to make my new dish soap dispenser jar. It’s also blue glass, like the one for the dishwasher tabs. Here they are together. In reality, one sits on one side of the sink, one on the other.

I must say, I really like it. I love the rustic, old look, even with the white plastic pump. I did use GE Silicone II to seal around the hole in the lid, but if I ever find a pump I like better, it won’t be difficult to change it out. No real tutorial to show – you have to break the ceramic piece on the inside of the lid and discard it, measure your pump apparatus so you know what size hole to drill, then drill it. Insert the pump, seal it up and wait 24 hours for the caulk to dry. If you Google “mason jar soap dispenser tutorial” you’ll come up with many places to see the process step-by-step.

Oh, what’s that scrappy looking scale behind the jars, you ask? It’s a garage sale find from last year that I finally got cleaned up (yep, that’s clean) and brought inside. For now I stack the washcloths on it that we use for Bradley after he eats. Again, that rustic old farmhouse look I’m liking.

Okay, this post is finally finished - go now and make over something at your house!

Frog or Toad?

2011-06-25T07:30:00.001-05:00

It was just about dark last night, Greg was reading something on his Kindle, I was surfing blogs and Pinterest, the cats were snoozing at my feet. For some reason Greg looked up at the big window and saw a tiny toad. Not on the deck, but on the glass. Up high on the window.

By the time I got unwound from laptop and kittie-boys and got out the front door, it had moved off the glass onto the window frame.

It was just about 1½” long and at first had it’s hands and feet splayed so you could all of his little toes.

By the time Greg got me my camera, it had moved, protecting itself, making himself smaller. One of the cats had come outside with me, and while he didn’t notice this sweet little guy, this sweet little guy had noticed us.

So I’ve been calling this a toad, but after looking at a few quick web pages for some specific info, I’m not sure if this is a toad or a frog… I’m leaning more towards frog.

I love that we can see the little balls on the ends of his toes. (One time I got to see a toad whip out it’s tongue and grab a fly off a garden hose. It was pretty cool.)

Did you know that toads have poison glands behind their eyes? I’ve been picking them up and holding them since I was a little girl and I never knew that.

Anyway, when I took the camera back inside, the cat came in with me, then turned around and wanted to go right back out. In fact, both cats wanted out. I made sure this little guy was gone – he was – before I released the great feline hunters.

Hopefully the frog/toad went to eat bugs.

So let me know if you know – frog or toad?

Make Do and Mend

2011-06-21T04:27:00.001-05:00

I got so excited to show Brad’s new hot rod Little Tykes car yesterday that I forgot about Make Do and Mend Monday. My contribution is a tad lame this week, but it’s something that makes a noticeable difference and I appreciate it.

We have steel doors, so no nails for hanging a wreath or sign or other fun stuff on the front door. Instead, I purchased some really strong magnets many years ago that each have a hook on them. Lots of times you can find them in the holiday aisles with the garlands and such in December. That’s where I found mine, so they were coated in a Christmas green-colored plastic. This Christmas green stood out like a sore thumb on the door, so everything I hung on them had to be large enough to cover up the magnet. I don’t know why it took me so long, but a couple of weeks ago I peeled the plastic off the magnets and painted them the same color as the doors. I love that they blend right into the door!

Next up, something pretty to hang on that hook…

Please join Heidi and a few of my other online friends and see what other Make Do and Mend Monday projects they've accomplished. They're really inspiring!

Hot Roddin’

2011-06-20T14:23:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, when I first became a member at Pinterest, one of my first pins was a photo of a “pimped out” Little Tykes car. It was just a couple of days later that Greg and I were making the Saturday morning garage sale rounds and found an old Little Tykes car for $5. Jackpot!

Greg had chuckled at my excitement over the little car, yet as soon as we got home, he broke out the spray paint.

Yes, you can see he painted the front before he even washed it. He was pretty excited about this project.

So I left the color choices to Greg, I just said I’d like to put flames on the sides. He chose a black exterior and cherry red interior. We considered painting the wheels with a shiny metallic silver spraypaint, but a couple of the inserts were cracked and broke when the wheels were disassembled for cleaning and painting. So the entirety of each was just sprayed black.

Nick came over one afternoon and drew the flame stencil, but there was not photography of that process allowed. He sprayed the driver’s side door, showing me how to shade the yellow, orange, and red paints. This morning I was able to get back out there and paint the flames on the other side.

Doesn’t that look spiffy? Jess likes it so much she’s asked if we want to overhaul the fairly new Little Tykes car that Brad has at their house. We’ll wait and see how the paint job fares on this one. It’s already scratched where the door opens and closes.

I do know that if we find another old one, we’ll bring it home – Greg wants to do a cherry red exterior and black interior version. I wonder if some pinstriping would be warranted on that one. (We did find another car at a garage sale a week ago, and Jess and I joked about running down the street to get it, but it had a sold sign on it already.)

We gave the car to Brad this afternoon and he couldn’t wait to get into it!

Paint details: black and cherry red Rustoleum for plastic. Flames were painted with regular Rustoleum spray paint. Flame stencil was hand drawn after consulting photos online.

I want to put a skull and crossbones on the back end, and now that I look at the photo, I’m thinking we need to add some headlights to the front. I guess our projects are never really all the way done…

Loss

2011-06-18T23:38:00.001-05:00

This evening another huge hole has been torn in the fabric of my family. We mourn the loss of my eldest cousin, Barbara Allen Moore, who passed away from leukemia after a brave fight.

Barbie (and only our family called her that) was very close to my mom, who I think considered her to be more of a younger sister than a niece. Barbie was at our house a lot as a young bride, seeking advice from Mom or doing little make-overs on us with her Avon.

I babysat her kids, then when they were almost grown up, she babysat mine. As adults, she and I became good friends. Our interests and hobbies were the same and we could talk for hours upon hours about gardens and birds and needlework and cooking. She sang in my wedding, too.

She was direct and to-the-point most of the time, calling a spade and spade and moving on with her life. Here’s what she had to say about herself in her Blogger profile:

“About Me: I am a mother, grandmother, artist, cook, baker, tomboy, feminist, writer, reader, shoe junkie and teacher. Life has often been very hard but I can't seem to lose my optimism or cancel my dreams or give up on humankind. It's just not in me to say stop when it's so much more fun to say go, go, go faster! Live life like you mean it!”

And this is what she wrote in her Facebook profile:

“I went on "my travels" a few years ago. Me, my old truck and Carlos Santana. We drove thru 12 states, talked to a lot of people, got lost, got found, saw lots of stuff. What I mostly remember was the women who were astonished that I would be driving around the country all alone. "What if you get a flat tire? What if your truck breaks down? What if you get lost?" were the most common questions. "I could never do that." was the most common reply. I had spent my entire life raising children, first my siblings then my own and it was time to take a break and just be alone with me. I had a great time! There was the old Navajo on Rt. 66 who had worked the railroad in North Platte the same time as Grandpa Bob, the giggly girls in California, the gas station attendants in Oregon who laughed at my astonishment over them pumping my gas, checking the tires and fluids etc. When I voiced my surprise they said "You’re in Oregon now ma’am, we do things different here". Camping by the ocean in Washington after assuring everyone that Nebraska did exist and no we didn't have an ocean. Seeing the aquaduct system and fruit tree groves in California. No, I won't spend time in Wyoming again. Stayed in the mountains in Colorado w/ my brother and enjoyed the museums of Santa Fe. Now, at this time in my life when the challenge is to just get up everyday, ignore my dread disease, and live, I remember that trip and how much fun I had. How it opened up the wanderlust in me, how the call of the ocean still rings in my ears. I have a list now of places to go and see and a plan to do it. So in the long scheme of my life I've learned that now is the most important thing and what I learn is the next. Cooking, sewing, painting, gardening fill my days and I am somewhat content.”

I was fortunate to spend an afternoon with Barbie recently. She was in the hospital and on the mend after being very ill. I noticed how much she looked like Grandma Adams. I’d not seen that in her before, and it brought me comfort. We had a wonderful visit - I made her laugh, and she made me cry. It was all good.

I hope she and Debbie and my mom and Grandma are sitting around the table with glasses of iced tea, laughing and chatting and solving the problems of the day. She will be sorely missed down here.

Fun In the Sun Toddler-Style

2011-06-17T08:04:00.001-05:00

‘Twas a lovely, warm afternoon, with sunshine, light breeze, and low humidity. A perfect day to play outside in the water. The day began with a thunderstorm, though, so we didn’t set up the pool. Instead, we tried out the new “kidwash” sprinkler that Greg put together the other day.

It’s just simple construction using ¾” PVC pipe, a couple of tees and a couple of 90° elbows. To connect the garden hose, we used a $6 connector with a valve so we can turn the water off at the hose. This means we can adjust the flow from a dribble to a hard jet, and so we don’t have to run around to the back yard and shut it off at the hydrant.

I’d seen this idea posted somewhere online last summer, and had bookmarked it, but I lost all of my saved blog inspiration, hundreds of recipes, and all of my “favorites” when my old laptop died last winter. I was happy to come across a photo of a kidwash on Pinterest, which led me to some easy instructions.

Our sprinkler just has holes drilled instead of the mister jets installed, and is just dry-fitted. If possible, we’d rather not glue it so it can be disassembled for winter storage. There was one time today when one of the feet popped off the leg, but I was able to turn the water off using the valve, and pop it back together, then turn the water back on. Easy peasy.

The kids LOVED it! I have Alan’s girls here this week and it was the perfect time to try it out. Reese wasn’t so keen on getting under the water, but enjoyed playing in it without getting soaked. Taylor and Bradley, on the other hand, had a wet blast.

(Taking a little break from the fun – Taylor has tattoos on her legs and arms, courtesy of Grace. I mention that only because so many people have asked us “what happened to her knee?”.)

If you’re interested in building one of these for yourself and you have any questions about how we did ours, please email me. Greg said it took him all of 10 minutes to cut the pipe and assemble, and it only took that long because he had to heat up the fitting for the hose to soften it before screwing in the valve piece, because the threads didn’t match up. You may not have to worry about that.

Conversation from the Back Seat

2011-06-15T22:26:00.001-05:00

Taylor (4 years old – in the back seat of the car as I’m driving): “When I grow up I’m going to have lots of good babies.”

Me: “You are?”

T: “Yes. All of my babies will be good. I’m not going to have any naughty babies.”

Me (trying not to LOL): “How many babies do you plan to have?”

T: “Lots and lots and lots – a hundred! Or more than that – I can’t even count that high!”

Me: “That is a LOT of babies. Who is going to change all of those diapers?”

T: “Oh. Hundreds of babies will be a lot of work.”

Me: “Yes. That would be a lot of work. And lots of diapers. And you have to feed them.”

T: “Well, I guess my daddy will have to stay home and help me.”

Hear that Alan? You’re going to be a stay-at-home grandpa and help care for your hundreds of good grandchildren. Good thing you work out! :o)

The Box I Built

2011-06-04T20:57:00.001-05:00

What does a chop saw, a skilsaw, a drill press, and a nail gun all have in common? They’re all power tools I learned to use last weekend when I built this:

A few weeks ago I read about a challenge to build an old-fashioned toolbox on Funky Junk Interiors. The blog author had a guest post a tutorial with directions and possible dimensions. I showed it to Greg and he was more than happy to help me put this together.

Unfortunately we didn’t have any old wood to use, but there was some leftover pine from a couple of woodworking projects Greg’s been working on. He found enough pieces to put the toolbox together. I kind of pounded on them and sanded a bit of the paint off, and scratched it a little. The handle is just a plain wooden dowel.

So it took just about an hour for me to get through all of the measuring, cutting, sanding, and nailing. (Less time than it’s taking me to write this blog post…)

True confession: I’m pretty scared of power tools with sharp blades, so the chop saw was not my favorite thing. You know what I did like? The drill press and the nail gun! I did really well with the Forstner bit on the drill press, cutting out the circular hole for the handle. And that nail gun? Pow-er-ful! I coulda nailed stuff all day long!

So what will I do with my new creation? There are so many possibilities! I love it with the geraniums:

And we can use it for picnics for napkins and utensils:

Or use it to take a sweet little picnic out to the fire pit for a relaxing and romantic at-home date:

Anybody want one for Christmas? Cuz I wanna make some more!

Fun in the high-clouds-overcast-Sun

2011-06-03T20:15:00.001-05:00

It was a busy day with Randy’s kids here. I invited them to come finish a project they’d started many weeks ago for their garden. Besides that, we had a picnic lunch in the living room, played Wii, and ran through the sprinkler.

It’s already summertime hot here, temps in the 90’s the first week of June. UGH! While I’m not a hot weather lover, there are certain fun things you can do when the mercury gets up there that you cannot comfortably do in the other seasons. One of those things is good, old-fashioned, running through the sprinkler.

We put it in the yard on the back side of the house and they had a blast. I love watching them develop their own little games and then cooperate and share and take turns. These three will be best friends their whole lives.

(I wish the video was a little longer, but I ran out of memory on my SD card.)

They had a good time experimenting with the different settings on the sprinkler, then, as you saw in the video, they would hold their faces in the spray as long as they could.

They played out here for about half an hour, then it was time to get changed and head to town.

I guess if we have to have it hot outside, we may as well have a little fun and get a little wet - “we” being “them” of course.

Gettin’ the Mojo Back

2011-06-02T08:30:00.001-05:00

True confession time: I’ve been a slug. Spending too much time on the computer (have you heard of Pinterest?!), or watching TV, not sleeping well, being exhausted by running after the baby and overwhelmed by everything that I need/want to do around here. Oh, and the clouds and rain and gloom have sucked the energy out of every day.

Fact is, I don’t have Bradley here as often now and there is plenty of time to get things done. I’ve had a couple of nights of good sleep, the weather is beautiful, and the flowers are blooming in my garden. (Don’t you love the photo above? It’s my clematis that is growing on the back deck. It has never bloomed this early before, nor with such big flowers. That one is bigger than my hand.)

I have an online friend whose motto is “If you do stuff, stuff gets done.”

It is time for me to get busy.

There are a few projects in the works and I cannot wait to show you what I did last weekend! I’ll post it on Saturday, but will give you a hint – it involved power tools. And I did not lose a digit!

Off to work…

"One day, an Autobot shall rise from our ranks and use the power of the Matrix to light our darkest hour." Optimus Prime

2011-06-01T04:44:00.000-05:00

If you know my family at all, you understand that my son, Nick, is a fiercely independent young man. He lives alone, works two jobs, and protectively guards his free time. After his recent hospitalization, though, it didn’t take much to persuade him to spend a few day at our house. He needed some time to adjust to some new things in his daily routine, and I was happy to “baby” him a little. He doesn’t allow me to do that very often…

One of the changes he has to make is to carry medical supplies with him at all times. We joked about a “man-bag” or “satchel”. He really doesn’t need anything that large, so I looked around the house, but didn’t find anything that worked. Nanny had a small shaving bag, but he vetoed that idea, insisting he’d find something himself.

I think he already had plans to use this:

When I met up with him on Monday morning for his follow-up doctor visit, this is what he was carrying when he got out of his car.

I love it!

I don’t know why I was surprised, it fits his well-hidden sense of humor perfectly. His original Transformers lunchbox, circa late 1980’s (he has the original Thermos container for it, too), works perfectly for the assorted things that must be kept with him.

His new diagnosis is not his “darkest hour” but I liked the quote used for the title of this post as a way to say Nick still has his sense of humor and, I think, takes some comfort in this childhood keepsake. Perhaps it’s also a way to integrate this new facet of his life into the old. Accept it and move on without over-thinking things. That’s the way Nick is.

Winner, Winner, Tuscan Garlic Chicken Dinner

2011-05-31T04:33:00.000-05:00

I came across this recipe several days ago while blog-hopping. Any recipe with the words “Tuscan” and “garlic” will immediately grab my attention. In reading through the ingredient list and preparation steps, there were a couple of ingredients I didn’t have, and one I knew I couldn’t use if I wanted Greg to eat it, so there was a little tweaking going on as supper was prepared a few days ago.

I knew he’d never eat cooked spinach – I’ve asked a few times when wanting to make something like this. So that part was out. Instead, I steamed some frozen asparagus as a side dish.

I also wasn’t about to give the appendage required to purchase a red bell pepper at the grocery store last week, so that got left out. When pepper prices come down, or I have my own from the garden, I’ll make this again, because the red pepper would have been really good here.

Here is the original recipe, with my changes in blue.

Tuscan Garlic Chicken

(www.thefarmgirlrecipes.blogspot.com)

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 T. salt

1 t. pepper

1/2 t. dried basil (I used Italian seasoning)

1/2 t. dried oregano

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

5 T. extra virgin olive oil, divided

1 T. finely minced garlic, 4-5 cloves

1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips or chopped (left out)

1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth

6 oz. fresh spinach (omitted)

1/2 c. heavy cream

2 t. cornstarch

1 c. milk

1 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 pound fettuccine (or whatever pasta you have on hand) (whole grain angel hair)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a shallow pie plate, combine the flour, salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Dip each chicken piece in the flour mixture until both sides are well coated. (note: if your chicken is quite thick, butterfly them so they are thinner)

2. In a large 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat until the oil is hot and shimmering. Carefully place the chicken breasts in the pan, cooking them for 2-3 minutes on each side, until they are golden and browned but not cooked all the way through, they will finish up cooking in the oven. (note: don’t move the chicken around once you lay it in the hot oil! Let the oil work it’s magic to sear the crust on the chicken. If you get all antsy and try flipping too early and/or moving the chicken around the pan, the breading will likely fall off) Gently remove the chicken to a foil-lined, lightly greased baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside and tent with foil until ready to use.

3. While the chicken is cooking, heat a large pot of water to a boil and add the noodles, cooking until al dente. Also, wipe out the skillet with a couple paper towels and return it to medium heat, adding the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and bell pepper, sauteing for 2-3 minutes.

4. Stir in one tablespoon flour and stir constantly while cooking for another minute. Add the chicken broth to the skillet and bring the mixture to a low simmer, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes. In a small liquid measure, whisk together the cornstarch and cream, and milk. Add the spinach, milk and cream mixture to the skillet. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is wilted and sauce is slightly thickened, about 2-4 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.

5. When the pasta has finished cooking, drain and return it to the pot. Toss the pasta with half of the cheese sauce. Place some of the coated pasta on each plate. Top with a breaded chicken breast and spoon some of the sauce over the top of the chicken and pasta. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

This was really, really good. The chicken is tender and flavorful, the sauce is garlicky and smooth. I use angel hair pasta for dishes like this – I like the delicate texture.

New from Old

2011-05-30T12:10:00.001-05:00

Good Monday Morning! I’ve so enjoyed having Greg home for this long weekend. He took Friday off from his job which gave him a four-day weekend. We’ve completed a few tasks and had some fun as well as some good family time.

Ah, but that is not what I want to tell you about today. Besides being Memorial Day, it is “Make Do & Mend Monday” where my friend Heidi encourages us to make-over, re-cover, re-invent, re-purpose things we have around our homes to make them useful and/or beautiful again. I have a few of these types of projects in the works around here, but my first was relatively quick and simple.

A few years ago I was gifted an old iron crib that belonged to my grandparents. It was used for awhile as a daybed/display area in the master bedroom, but it really took up more space than we liked, so I disassembled it recently. I’ll make use of all of the pieces, but one of the sides has become something completely new.

Here it is, standing on end. Do you see what I see? It would be a great place to hang more towels in the bathroom!

There is little storage in this tiny bathroom, and while I would like to put in a cabinet for towel storage, it just would crowd the room more. There is also a “regular” towel rack on the wall, but it doesn’t hold all of the towels I want to store in that bathroom.

As you can see in this next photo, the ends of this piece have a small “loop” and you would think that would make it easy to mount on the wall:

The problem is that it is turned the wrong way to hang flush. I considered using several options, and decided to just put hooks in the wall and hang it from the frame instead. Those yellow arrows are pointing out the hooks that I hung it on.

You can’t even see them. I think this is the smartest way to hang it, too, since once the towels are hanging there, it is heavy.

I really like the way it looks!

Incidentally, those hankies in the frames next to the crib piece, belonged to the same grandmother. I love having little pieces of her in my home.

If you click on the link above or the Make Do button, you’ll go to Cranberry Chronicles where Heidi has listed more Make Do & Mend participants in the right-hand column. I “know” all of these ladies and they are all resourceful and talented in using what they have to make their homes cozy and welcoming. Go see what they’ve done and then take a look around your own home. What can you make new again?

Rainy Day Play

2011-05-27T04:21:00.000-05:00

One of Bradley’s favorite activities is to play in anything he can scoop and pour and stir. I’ve talked before about making colored rice and how much he enjoys playing in it. I’ve always set him up at the table in his booster seat and given him a cookie sheet as a play area. The other day, I put an old tablecloth on the floor and set out the rice and various “tools” there instead. This became a combination small/large muscle activity as he played and crawled around the tablecloth.

Yes, I still vacuumed up some of the rice, but it wasn’t bad. It’s pretty easy for him to help clean up the rice that ended up on the tablecloth.

Here’s a little video of him playing. As usual, I talk to him as he plays, describing what he’s doing, always working on those language skills.

I love the look on his face at about 1:36 when I’m talking about him taking the lid off and putting it back on the spice bottle. Like he’s humoring me that he’s done something neat and unexpected.

Veggie Nuggets

2011-05-23T04:34:00.000-05:00

I know I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to try to sneak some veggies into Nick’s diet, and these would be a great way to do that, if I could convince him to eat them. I’m afraid they’re a bit too obviously veggie.

Oh, but they are delicious! You can find the actual recipe here.

I used some fresh broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, and a little onion for the veggies. I had homemade bread crumbs made from toasted garlic bread, but not enough quantity, so ran some Panko through the food processor to make up the difference.

First I ran the veggies through the food processor, then sautéed them in batches for just a few minutes in a tiny bit of olive oil.

After sautéing, they went into a bowl to cool momentarily before adding the crumbs, eggs, and shredded cheddar cheese. There was a good quantity of vegetables, and after two eggs the mixture was still a little bit dry, so I added a third before shaping them into large-ish nuggets. I got an entire sheet cake pan full of them. You can make them smaller if you like.

After baking, Brad had one for lunch. He liked it, but once Jess gave him some Ranch to dip it in, he devoured it!

There are so many variations to try – zucchini and yellow squash, shredded carrots and peas, green peppers/onion/mushroom. You can vary the cheese, too, for a different spin.

These were bagged up after cooling completely and put in the freezer. They warm easily in the microwave or toaster oven. They’re really handy to have in the freezer for a quick lunch side dish or a snack for the little man. Or his mama.

She’s eaten as many as he has.

Hot Wheels

2011-05-20T05:02:00.000-05:00

Last summer Jess found a big box of Hot Wheels tracks and cars at a garage sale and called me right away to see if I wanted it. I was thinking the Wyatt and Garett would enjoy it, and they have.

Bradley has loved Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars since he was big enough to recognize that they’re cars. He plays with them every time he’s here and has his own collection at home. The other day when he and Jess were here visiting, he brought out the box of tracks, and Jess set it up for him.

She figured out a simple oval track for him to play on, and is fitting in the battery-operated “booster” thing that shoots the cars down the track. He likes to bring that out to the living room and we shoot the little cars all over. :o)

It wasn’t long before Grampy came in and joined the fun. Jess happily gave over the track duties to him. After a little sorting and revamping there was a loop so the cars would shoot around and go upside down. Bradley loved that!

What fun to watch them playing cars together. Somewhere in the car collection is one that Grampy played with when he was a boy, as well as some that belonged to Uncle Nick. I love that Bradley is able to play with their old toys!

“Food That Doesn’t Suck”

2011-05-18T21:36:00.001-05:00

There is a recent situation in our family that dictates a bit more thought about our menu and method of cooking. Our son was diagnosed with diabetes over the weekend, and while he has no diet restrictions, there are guidelines for what and how much he eats so his insulin level and blood sugars stay balanced. Because he was so incredibly ill when he got to the hospital, he got low-sodium meals, which, let me tell you, DO suck. His discharge papers listed “no diet restrictions”, so this mama has been trying to fill him up with delicious food that follows the diet guidelines he was given. I don’t usually cook for him on a day-to-day basis, but he’s staying here for a few days as he adjusts to the new parts of his daily routine.

The title for this post comes from his comment about his supper last night, his first meal outside of the hospital in four days. When asked how it was, he said, “This food doesn’t suck!”

Tonight’s supper was one we discussed in the hospital and he’s been looking forward to for a couple of days. My boy (well, he’s 27 years old, but he’s still my “boy”) is not a veggie lover. That’s really an understatement – he’s a veggie hater. I will confess here, because he does not read this blog, that I intend to try to sneak some new-to-him vegetables into the food I make for him. We’ll see how that goes…

Anyway, back to supper tonight. He hates veggies, but will eat peppers and onions. Think, fajitas. Fajitas are delicious, but I wanted to do something a little different. So we planned chicken kabobs.

Really simple – pieces of green bell pepper, chunks of onion, and cubes of boneless, skinless chicken breast – all marinated in fat free Italian dressing. I added pieces of portabella mushroom to Greg’s and my kabobs, too. A few minutes on the grill and we had a simple, tasty, nutritious meal that didn’t suck.

“Sleeping In”

2011-05-01T18:08:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow morning the alarm will go off, and it will only go off once at 6:00. NOT at 4 a.m., then again at 6. ONLY at 6! Yea!

After three years and seven months of getting up at 4:00 every weekday morning, I resigned and finished up my last early morning on Friday. I’m so excited!

This was an easy job and I so very much enjoyed the people I got to know. What a blessing it is that I was able to work just part time and then spend the days with my grandson. But I’m tired. Exhausted. Fatigued. It’s time to catch up on some sleep.

For the moment I’ll watch Bradley when Jess needs me (she’s between jobs and is going back to school – yea!) and then when our second grandboy arrives in late July, they’ll both be here as needed. That’s all I know so far about what I’ll be doing for the next several weeks.

Oh, and Spring cleaning. And painting. And gardening. And sleeping in.

“Sprinter”"

2011-03-25T11:44:00.001-06:00

We got much more than the 1-2" of snow that was forecast last night. One of Jessi's FB friends posted "Welcome to Sprinter". The perfect moniker for this time of year and the reason that March is my least favorite month...

This photo is what greeted me out my back door this morning. It is very wet snow and I drove to work through many inches of slushy, icky-ness that wanted to suck me off the side of the road.

Pretty? Yes.

Fun? Notsomuch.

There is another inch forecast for overnight tonight, then more next week. In the overall scheme of what's going on in the world, I cannot complain about a Spring snow. I am blessed to have a warm home, abundant food, reliable vehicle, and the means with which to fill it with fuel.

I also will not complain when it’s gone and we’re enjoying sunshine and 70°!

Scenes from the Back Seat

2011-03-24T13:05:00.001-06:00

There are some days when Bradley is none too fond of going into the car seat, and even less so when the straps get buckled and snapped into place.

See? He’s loud, too. Makes it tough to drive while trying to soothe the tantrum with songs or stories. The other day a light bulb went off and I dug my digital camera out of my purse. I keep a small, inexpensive one tucked away in case I need a quick photo.

Bradley was ecstatic when I turned it on and handed it back to him. He giggled and chattered and our drive to town became instantly a thousand times more pleasant. Happened again today. I think we’ve hit on the lucky charm for the moment to have that car seat be not such a horror.

Here are a few things Brad saw through the camera lens from the back seat:

Yep, the back of Grammy’s seat and a little bit of her hair. Whoo. No wonder he’s not excited about being back there!

A self-portrait of the bottom half of his face. I think watching the flash was the fun thing here.

Gotta love the ceiling. Look! There’s a light! And a handle so Grammy can get all the way up into the car when she has to get into the back seat!

Ooooh. A finger.

Can’t forget to look down! Gotta love the tennies!

Now don’t be horrified that I gave a digital camera to a toddler. It’s a really inexpensive one and the entertainment value for him is priceless!

Are We Blue? Oh, Yeah!

2011-03-13T20:46:00.001-06:00

A few years ago Greg had to go to Newton, Iowa for several days for work. During his time there he visited the Maytag Dairy Farms store and was able to sample several kinds of cheese. He brought home a few samples for us, not the least of which was the blue cheese.

Maytag Blue Cheese is made from homogenized cow’s milk as opposed to the usual sheep’s milk. You can read about the process here. It is sharp and pungent, and so flavorful.

Along with the cheese sample, Greg also brought home a handout from the store with recipes for using their product. I glanced at them, then tucked the handout into my recipe binder and left it for “someday”. In the meantime, we used the blue cheese to top grilled steaks, to sprinkle into salads, and sliced with a drizzle of honey to go with our wine. And it was good – really good. Then on Food Network there was a chef using wedges of iceberg lettuce with blue cheese dressing as their salad course and I thought that looked pretty tasty.

About that same time I went through the recipe binders and came across the old handout. I happened to have a small wedge of Maytag Blue Cheese in the frig, so on Saturday I picked up a head of lettuce, then that afternoon, handed the paper to Greg and told him to choose which of the three recipes for blue cheese dressing he wanted me to make. I think he must’ve chosen the best one because it is thick and rich and tastes just like what you get at Chances R and PK’s. YUM!

Here you go, straight from Maytag Dairy Farms:

“Maytag Blue Cheese Dressing”

Place in mixing bowl:

1 C sour cream (I actually used part light sour cream and part homemade yogurt)

½ tsp. dry mustard

½ tsp. black pepper (fresh ground would be best)

scant 1/3 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Blend two minutes at low speed (I used a hand mixer). Add 1 1/3 C mayonnaise (NOT SALAD DRESSING); blend 30 seconds at low speed to mix, then blend two minutes at medium speed. Crumble 8 ounces Maytag Blue Cheese; add half to blended mixture; blend well at low speed. Add rest of crumbles, stir in by hand. Refrigerate 24 hours before using. Yield: 3 Cups

Since my wedge of cheese was only 4 ounces, I halved this recipe. We went ahead and ate some of this about an hour and a half after I made it, and it was good. We ate some tonight, 24 hours later, and it was amazing! It had thickened up noticeably and the flavor was much stronger.

Okay, now that I showed you how delicious it looks, and given you the recipe, I’ll give you the bad news. Maytag Blue Cheese is expen$ive and it’s not easy to find. Every now and then our local WalMart has the foil wrapped wedges. Usually we pick it up when we’re at a HyVee in either Lincoln or Grand Island. It is not something I usually have in the frig, rather a splurge for every once in awhile. I was looking forward to grilling steaks in the near future, so that’s why I had picked up a 4 oz. wedge a couple of weeks ago.

We’re having a big family spaghetti dinner next weekend with all of my siblings and most of our kids. I plan to offer a big bowl of salad to go along with the pasta, and with the salad, we’ll be having homemade blue cheese dressing. Yeah, we’ll use Maytag, this one time. Cuz I love ‘em and want to share the deliciousness.

Now to find a homemade Ranch recipe we love…

Entertainment for The Boy

2011-03-07T20:22:00.001-06:00

Everyone knows that the key to keeping a toddler (or child or teen) out of trouble is to keep them busy. If you don’t provide constructive activities, they’ll find something themselves to occupy their time – and it’s not always desirable…

I just want to share a few things we’ve been up to lately to keep Bradley occupied for a few minutes here and there while I do housework:

First, the old stand-by where you build a tent from a card table and a (rather raggedy, but I love it) blanket. We piled sofa pillows inside and snuggled up to watch Dinosaur Train for a few minutes. He would lay his head on the pillow and fake-snore, then giggle. :o)

Now this activity might not be for everyone, because, yes, we did vacuum quite a lot of this dyed rice off the floor, but let me tell you, he LOVES this. I used a two pound bag of plain white rice, liquid food coloring, rubbing alcohol, and white vinegar. You just mix either 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol or vinegar with the food coloring and the rice. I let the rice sit in the dye mixture for several hours, until it had soaked up most of the liquid. Then I let it dry on paper towels overnight before storing in jars. You can see I also left a bit of it white.

Of course, by the time we cleaned up and put it away, the colors were all mixed up and now we have a jar of beautiful rainbow rice. That’s okay – he’s more into the whole scooping and dumping and pouring thing right now. I will confess that he tried one bite of the rice and promptly spit it out. Didn’t try that again.

These are stickers made into magnets to use on the magnetic whiteboard that hangs on the wall between the kitchen and dining room. We have whiteboard crayons, too, so we drew an ocean and beach for the fish and sea-life to play in. (Fortunately, Bradley doesn’t mind my rudimentary artwork…)

The stickers are part of a package from Dollar General that were priced at just $1. They’re plastic and kind of “bubbly” and have held up well to Bradley’s carrying them around and wanting to bend them. I stuck them to black scrapbook cardstock, cut them out, then stuck them onto a sheet magnet and cut them out again. Lots of cutting, but that’s what made them sturdy. He says “fish”, and when I ask which is the crab, and which is the turtle, he knows those, too. The seahorse is a bit difficult, because he knows what a horse is, and this doesn’t look like one! :o)

So these things help keep him busy and me sane. Totally worth any effort to put them together. There are lots more fun things to come as he grows!

He Knows Alot About That!

2011-03-02T04:19:00.000-06:00

Today is Dr. Seuss’s birthday. When I taught preschool we used to have green eggs and ham for either breakfast or lunch. Many of the kids thought this was wonderful, but every single year there was at least one child who would not eat those green eggs!

I never much got into Dr. Seuss until Nick was learning to read and Nanny had the book “Hop on Pop”. He enjoyed having that book read to him, then it was the first one he read by himself. And he truly read it, instead of just reciting the words from memory. His journey to reading was on a bumpy road, one I shan’t travel down again to explain here, so when he read that book, I was ecstatic. I became an instant fan of Dr. S.! Jess also had regular access to that book when she was learning to read, and it was the first one for her to read alone, too.

On to preschool where we used Dr. Seuss to learn about rhyming and the beginning sounds of words. I often recommended his books to parents and took them along when I made home visits.

Now, Bradley has discovered “The Cat in the Hat” cartoon on PBS and he just loves “Cat”. I don’t think he really grasps what they’re talking about in the episodes, but he loves Martin Short’s voice (as The Cat) and the “thingamajigger”, and the music. One day a couple of weeks ago, we were sorting toys and rearranging things in the playroom when we found a little stuffed toy of The Cat. He was thrilled and carried it around all day, sleeping with it for nap, and taking it home with him that evening. Jess said he plays with it all the time at their house.

One thing he was frustrated with was that the hat didn’t come off the toy. In the cartoon, Cat takes off his hat and finds all sorts of interesting things inside. :o) I knew Bradley needed his own Cat in the Hat hat, so on Monday I dug out my box of felt to make him one. There was a huge piece of nice red felt, but only scrap pieces of white, so those had to be patched together to make the stripes. I followed this easy tutorial and it took a couple of hours, just because I had to keep stopping and take care of Brad. If he hadn’t been here, my bet is it would have taken under an hour.

He knew what I was making and was happy to keep trying it on as I put it together. When it was finished, he was thrilled!

Yes, the living room is a mess in this photo – that’s what happens when I try to work on projects while Bradley is here. He trashes the place. Oh well, it cleans up. (And yes, that is a Barbie on the floor. He loves her. Don’t judge.)

When Greg got home, he made him try on the hat. Sorry, no photo was allowed. Greg didn’t love it as much as Brad did, but he’ll do anything for that boy. :o)

I’m happy to give tribute to the wise Dr. S. and his funny rhyming books, green eggs and ham, and The Cat in the Hat. They’ve entertained many a child in my life and that’s given me extremely good memories.

Only TEN Months Til Christmas!

2011-02-25T04:31:00.000-06:00

Yep, I’m gonna come back here on the 25th of every month this year and poke you in the ribs so you don’t forget how long we have until Christmas. Heehee.

Admittedly, I didn’t work on much this month, and finished this project only yesterday. I did the cross-stitching many, many years ago, stitched the names last year, and finally have finished these into stocking ornaments.

All I did to finish them was sew on a backing fabric around the outline of the stocking, leaving the top open, then turned them right side out. The do need to be ironed, but I don’t want to drag out the iron while Brad’s here.

I must confess that we didn’t even have Max and Tucker when I stitched these stockings. I was going to make several and use them to hold our flatware on a Christmas tablescape. I should know better – I really don’t like to stitch the same pattern more than once. I’m glad to have one less unfinished project in my cross-stitch box, and the kittie boys will be glad to have a little treat tucked inside them on Christmas morning!

Scrap Art

2011-02-22T05:26:00.000-06:00

There is a small box of paper scraps in the den that I’ve been meaning to throw away for some time now. It gets moved around and I found it this morning tucked behind the treadmill. I’m glad now that I didn’t get around to tossing it. Bradley will make good use of those teensy and odd-shaped pieces.

Yesterday he stuck little pieces to contact paper, collage-style:

I cut a piece of clear contact paper and just set it on the table. It works better if you can tape it down, and blue painter’s tape is on my shopping list. Then I took the scrap pieces and just tore a pile of smaller pieces for him to choose from. Eventually he’ll tear the pieces himself. This time the activity was more about picking them up and sticking them down. I kept using the word “sticky” in reference to the contact paper – always working on that vocabulary.

When he decided his masterpiece was finished, we stuck it on the whiteboard for display. He likes to rub his hands over it.

We’re going to have so much fun making art together!

Using Up the Yogurt

2011-02-21T16:39:00.001-06:00

Well, Jessica may have spit her taste of the homemade yogurt into the sink, but her son loves it!

This Grammy had her thinking cap on yesterday when she cut up and froze a nicely ripened banana.

This afternoon for snack, that banana, some frozen blueberries, about a cup of the yogurt, a drip of really yummy Kansas honey, and a little splash of milk combined to make Bradley a most delicious smoothie. He took the first taste and I heard, “Mmmmm…”. I asked if he liked it and I got, “MmmmHmmm…”

I tried to get a photo of his purple mustache, but the glass didn’t leave his face long enough.

I just love this boy.

I Made Homemade Yogurt!

2011-02-18T15:20:00.001-06:00

After reading about the success a couple of my online friends have had making yogurt at home, I decided to give it a try. It’s such a simple process that at first seems like a lot of fuss and bother, the kind of project I don’t necessarily want to take on, especially on a day when I have Brad-man running around the place. Thank goodness for Super Why! and Dinosaur Train on PBS. They gave me the time necessary to complete my task without “help”. Yes, I am a former Early Childhood professional and I use TV to distract the boy when there is something I need to get done. I make up for it after I turn off the TV. Promise.

So, about the yogurt. We don’t eat much of it around here, yet I always seem to have some in the frig waiting to be thrown away because it’s expired and funky. I know it’s so nutritious and something I should eat every day so I buy it with good intentions, but I don’t like the sickly sweet flavored kind and the plain has a tad too much “tang”. Reports were that the homemade was more tastebud-friendly, which intrigued me. If that’s true, then I’d probably start eating more of it – and would be more apt to incorporate it in what I feed Brad when he’s here, too.

So I did a little internet research and then yesterday combined a couple of methods to whip up a small batch. The information I used came from here and here. Not necessarily just the blog posts, but the comments were quite helpful also. Before we came home yesterday morning, Brad and I ran to the store (well, I drove and he rode, buckled into his car seat) and grabbed some fresh whole milk and plain yogurt with live cultures. Being the small-town grocery it is, there were no 6 oz. containers of plain yogurt so I had to purchase a quart. That’s okay, because I read that it can be frozen and used for future yogurt making. I did use whole milk since that’s what Brad needs right now. If he eats this well, I’ll keep making his with whole milk, but will make mine with skim.

The process was simple – heat the milk to 185 degrees F, let cool to 120 degrees F, then thoroughly mix in a bit of the yogurt. I put the mix into a couple of clean and warmed spaghetti sauce jars with lids, and a half-pint canning jar. Those went into the crockpot where I had a good inch+ of water that had been heated to 120 degrees F before I unplugged it. Set the lid on top and wrapped the entire thing with a bath towel. Four hours later, lookie what I got!

I put it in the frig until late in the afternoon because it apparently sets up a bit more as it cools. When Jess got here to pick up Bradley, we all took a little taste. I thought it still had quite a bit of tang, but the texture is softer than store-bought which contains gelatin. Bradley liked it well enough to eat a couple of spoonfuls before deciding that was enough. Jess spit hers out. She’s polite that way. Didn’t her mother teach her any manners?

So what will I do with it? One jar will be drained to make cheese which can be used like cream cheese for recipes. The other I think I will both flavor with fruits and make smoothies, and perhaps make some dip for crackers. Bradley loves Ranch, and if I can make that from scratch, so much the better. I’ll let you know. In the meantime, don’t be afraid to try this if it interests you. It’d be a great food experience for older kids.

After I told Greg how I did it, he started doing some research and found an easy recipe to make our own Ricotta cheese. Lasagna, anyone?

Only 11 Months Til Christmas!

2011-01-25T21:39:00.001-06:00

Today is the 25th of the month and in my email I got a reminder to think about preparing for Christmas 2011. There are those of you out there who will scoff at the idea, but yes, I do work on Christmas preparation all through the year.

This month I actually finished up a project begun in early December. Hopes were high to have it on the tree before Christmas, but other things took priority and it got put away – not forgotten, just put away.

On Bradley’s most recent weekend away for visitation, I got out all the little pieces and spent most of Sunday putting this together. I wish I’d kept the link to the web site from whence the inspiration for this fabric chain came, but alas, I did not.

Here is my finished project, a chain made from Christmas fabric and decorated with old buttons. I used some large scraps of fabric leftovers from a Christmas ornament I made a few years ago for a swap, and sandwiched some Wonder Under between. After ironing and fusing the fabric layers together, I cut strips using pinking shears, so there’s no worry about fraying.

The original blog post I saw used Velcro to put each link of the chain on, and that way it could all be taken apart and stored flat, and you could adjust the length easily if desired. I considered that, but Velcro is expensive, and I was trying to use what I already had at home, and that was Fabri-Tak fabric glue. I glued several single links, clipped each with a clothespin, and left them to dry for an hour or so. Then I came back and sewed a button on the seam of each. When I put the chain together, I put every other link with a button. The joining links are button-less.

The buttons came from a collection I picked up at a garage sale many years ago. I’ve added to it over the years, so some of the buttons are old, some notsomuch.

Since this chain will most likely go to Jessica’s house, I put a good dab of glue under many of the buttons, just to reinforce the attachment to the link.

It seems like it should be lots longer than it is, but it’ll work for a small Christmas tree. The great part is that I still have some fabric scraps and can always make more links to add length if needed.

Okay, there is my January project for Christmas 2011. Who else is preparing already?

New Year Wishes

2010-12-31T23:36:00.001-06:00

Grace, Wyatt, and Garett helped me put our new year wishes for each of you on my homemade chalkboard. This hangs on the end of the kitchen cupboards and is visible from the living and dining rooms. Wyatt was pretty excited to learn that 2010 would be gone and replaced by 2011.

This new year promises some wonderful changes for my family:

Jess and Scott and Bradley have rented a house in a small town about 15 miles from us, and they’ll move in January. While they’ll be missed, I’m so excited for Jessica to have her own home and family to care for. Plus, I’ll still get to see Bradley almost every day.

Greg and I will celebrate 30 years of married bliss. Okay, so it hasn’t all been “bliss”, but it’s been pretty great.

In July I will celebrate my 50th birthday. Yes, I will celebrate. Growing older is a privilege, one that I’m grateful for despite the gray hairs, wrinkles and what seems to be daily new aches and pains.

We will find a church home. Changing churches is hard. We went to services in York on Christmas Eve, and it was nice, but it wasn’t “home”. I cannot feature my daughter’s wedding in another place than Zion, or my future grandchildren being baptized somewhere else. I’m sad that Bradley won’t be in Sunday School or VBS here. Things always happen for a reason, so I’m just trying to be faithful and trust that we’ll find what we need and a place that needs us.

I’ll be doing something new with a job. I don’t know for sure what, but I do know that my tolerance for getting up at 4 a.m. every morning is running low.

It’s exciting to ponder the possibilities inherent in the beginning of the new year. These changes I’ve told you about are some that I know are happening. What about those I’m not aware of yet? How will I take full advantage of them? What new opportunities will I have to learn? What painful lessons will be taught?

How will I come away from 2011? I’m hoping I’ll be stronger in my faith, healthier, better rested, and ready to take on the next 50 years.

A Little Touch of Christmas

2010-12-13T19:09:00.001-06:00

Here we are, almost halfway through December and the Holiday Season is in full swing. I can’t say I’ve been feeling it much, but I have done some crafty things here and there.

The one I’m showing you tonight is this:

It’s a decorated glass block. I have several of these blocks out in the garage, gathered a few years ago when lighting and decorating them was the “in” craft on the internet. I finally got around to doing something with one, but I love it so much, I will do more.

First I used a 1/2” ceramic drill bit to put a hole in the back of the block. Now they do sell blocks at the craft store with holes already in them, but this one is heavy and durable and it was in the garage… It took a few days for the inside of the block to dry out after I rinsed the debris from drilling. This is not a quick project.

I used clear silicone caulk to adhere the flat marbles and a few pieces of red stained glass. The pattern just sort of happened as I played around with the marbles and glass. I think it sort of looks like a poinsettia. The caulk needs a few hours to dry, then just pop in some Christmas lights and there you have it.

Hopefully during this week I’ll be able to share a few more Christmas touches around the house (there are only a few). In the meantime, I wish you a wonderful rest-of-the-holiday-season!

Best Wishes

2010-11-25T07:09:00.001-06:00

We’re not hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year and it’s been wonderfully relaxed around here. Don’t get me wrong – I love having a big gathering come feast at my house. It’s just that with a toddler underfoot this year, it’s nice to take the feast elsewhere.

Jess made the pecan pies last night. She’s made pie before, but this was her first pecan. I was surprised and delighted at her offer to help, so I mostly supervised.

She got the two pecans done before Bradley needed her attention, so I made the pumpkins this morning. Just need to make potatoes afterwhile, and a baked artichoke heart recipe I saw last week, and we’ll be set to go.

I’m super grateful to have my kids, Bradley, and Scott all here today to gather at Nanny’s and Poppo’s. We are very blessed.

So enjoy your family, the feasting, and fun, and spend a minute in prayerful thanks for all the love with which you are surrounded. I’m going to.

Why Was I in Trouble? She Said It Was Okay…

2010-11-20T06:43:00.001-06:00

This is the story of two little girls, a screen door, a knitting needle, and fly season on a hog farm a long, long, time ago…

A little over two weeks ago, my cousin Debbie passed away, leaving an ache in the hearts of those who loved her. I take comfort in my memories of our time together when we were kids, growing up like sisters. This is one of my earliest memories of us together.

I think it was the summer I turned four years old, but I may have been five. Aunt Sherry and Uncle Jack had moved their family from Nebraska to a farm near Mahaska, Kansas, and I was delivered there to spend a few weeks. I remember the big house and yard, and also walking a dirt/gravel road to Sunday School at a small country church. Barbie was the eldest child, and in charge of us getting there and back.

Anyway, one afternoon I awoke from my nap and found the house empty and quiet. I wandered around looking for any of the family, and finally found Debbie in the back entryway, sitting at the open door. There was a full screen door – one of the old wooden kind on a spring that creaked when it opened and banged when it closed.

Debbie was sitting on the floor in front of that screen door, methodically punching holes in the screen with a knitting needle. We chatted for a minute, and she invited me to have a try at the hole-poking. I questioned the wisdom of this activity, but Debbie assured me it was okay and lots of fun. I was hesitant because I really didn’t think it was a good idea, but she was confident that it was okay. She was older and she lived there and she was quite convincing, so, I took a stab at it, so to speak.

You know what? It was fun! Poking that needle through the screen and seeing a perfect round hole appear was almost like magic! I was hooked!Debbie ran and got a second knitting needle and we both sat there together and punched holes to our hearts’ delight.

I have no idea how long we did this, but we were running out of screen on the bottom section of the door when Aunt Sherry came walking up. One look at her face and I knew that this was definitely NOT okay. It was summertime on a hog farm. Fly season. We had just opened up the entire bottom half of the screen door.

Oh, Aunt Sherry was mad.

Debbie got spanked first. I remember telling Aunt Sherry that it wasn’t my fault, that Debbie had told me it was okay, and I really was innocent. Yeah, she didn’t care. I got spanked, too. Then we were sent to Debbie’s room.

My memory of this incident ends there, but I have always proclaimed my innocence. They just laughed at me over the years whenever I reminded them of the injustice of my being held liable along with Debbie for this crime.

Here are the three of us about 40 years later:

I will forever be an accessory to screen-door mutilation.

I’ve Been Robbed!

2010-11-09T14:16:00.001-06:00

Well, about 36 years ago I was, anyway. I recently re-lived the experience when I found the evidence tucked away with my scrapbook items.

You know what? I didn’t even know I’d been robbed for a L O N G time after. Not until I found this:

I don’t remember where I found it, but I do remember finding it, and when I decided it was a keepsake, I dated the back of it “late 1974-early 1975”. I apparently found it in “early 1975”.

Puzzled, I peeled the Scotch tape back and unfurled the following note.

A ransom note. Obviously pretty old now, but fairly fresh back in the mid-70’s. My thief was very much into rebus (pictures for words).

D(ear)

Mailbox (obviously…)

Bank (it was a plastic “safe” from Discovery toys and you had to have the combination to open it up)

Someone had stolen my piggy bank and wanted a whopping seventy-five cents to give it back. My piggy bank had been gone for a few months, and I hadn’t noticed. I don’t think it even had 75 cents in it, but don’t remember for sure.

There were directions and a map for me to follow when leaving the ransom, and if I didn’t follow them, my bank was going to burn. Thing is, he gave me until 7:00 p.m. that evening. Which evening?

My thief’s name? The note was signed.

If you’ve known me for very long, you know this came from one of my brothers. The one who acts all innocent and good, then from out of the blue, becomes “the Villan”. Hmmm… you know that wasn’t Randy. He was just villainous all the time. :o)

That means the “other” brother (the one who left me this other note when I borrowed his gloves for like two minutes) was the bank-napper who stole my it and hid it away, then left me this awesome ransom note. Problem was, it took me so long to find the note and realize my bank was missing, he forgot all about his evil plot. (That is why the date on the back of the note is so ambiguous. Neither of us knew for sure when he wrote it.)

You’ll be happy to know that I got my bank back, unharmed, without paying any ransom. I showed him the note when I found it, and he gave a full confession and returned my property unharmed, without my having to pay anything.

I’m pretty sure he “earned” enough $$ a few years later when he was a busboy and I was a waitress and sometimes my tips would “fall” on the floor while the table was being wiped off. Then that money would be free game for anyone who picked it up.

I told you. He secretly was the Villan.

Celebrate This Season

2010-11-08T20:11:00.001-06:00

I’m living a variety of seasons all at once right now, not the least of which has been an amazing Autumn here on the Great Plains. Autumn is my favorite of the four seasons as the weather cools, the humidity disappears, and nature’s colors are gorgeous.

One day last week as Bradley and I got to the bottom step of the back deck, I spotted a perfect Autumn leaf lying on the sidewalk. It didn’t come from any tree in our yard, rather the wind carried and deposited it there for me to discover.

I stuck it between the pages of a really thick phone book for a week, and when it seemed sufficiently flat and dried, I matted it onto some scrapbook cardstock and put it in this simple black 5 x 7” frame.

I don’t know where this will hang, probably in the kitchen where I spend a good deal of my time.

Just a simple, sweet reminder of this favorite of seasons.

Light A Candle

2010-11-06T05:54:00.001-06:00

Today in Tennessee Debbie’s family is having her Celebration of Life. Many of us in the extended family are unable to be there with them, but in loving memory of Deb, and in prayerful support of her husband, children, grandchildren, mother, and siblings, we will light a candle for her.

Mine is lighted and shining in the window now.

My heart is in Tennessee today.

"For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness. -Ps 18:28"

Funtime with the Cricut

2010-11-04T08:47:00.000-06:00

We recently celebrated Greg’s niece’s birthday and I wanted to give her a little something for her new apartment. I picked up a small, unscented candle and got out the Cricut to personalize it for her.

A capital “H” cut from black vinyl went on first:

Then I used some lime green, her favorite color, to cut “hannah”:

Using the transfer tape, I peeled the letters off the vinyl backing

and they were ready to position onto the candle. I centered the entire name over the capital “H”. Since the letters were on the transfer tape, I was able to reposition without too much trouble – you can see here I got the letters a little on a slant at first.

When the letters were positioned to my satisfaction, I rubbed over the lettering and then peeled off the transfer tape.

She seemed to really like it, especially with the lime green letters.

Yeah, I didn’t get the letters straight after all, but it’s still a fun little candle and a sweet gift that didn’t strain the budget at all.

While we had the vinyl out, I opened up the Cricut Expressions machine I had at home from the library. (I own a small, early version of the Cricut, but am able to check out the awesome Expression and a few cartridges at a time from the local library.) There was a spot on the dining room wall just begging for some kind of quote, and since Thanksgiving is coming up, I chose a line from a popular hymn, “We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing”.

The Cricut Expression can cut 12 x 24” shapes, and I picked up a 24” mat at Hobby Lobby several weeks ago, so I was able to cut and transfer the entire quote with one piece of transfer tape.

The steps are the same as with the candle. The quote is cut and excess vinyl removed, then the transfer tape down over the top:

Here’s the spot on the wall. If you look closely you can see the laser level line so I get the words on the wall straight (yeah, I’m challenged that way…)

Aligning the text with the laser line, I rub the letters onto the wall, first with my hand, then I go over each letter with a wide craft stick.

Peel off the transfer tape,

And there it is – an appropriate sentiment for the Thanksgiving dining room:

The text is level, the wall hanging above it is not… I said I was challenged that way!

You’ll notice it’s missing an apostrophe in “Lord’s”. I did hand cut one from vinyl and just pop it up on the wall. There was no apostrophe on the cartridge I used to design the quote.

This vinyl is easily removable, though not intended to be reusable. If you order vinyl online, it’s pretty inexpensive, so changing quotes with the season would be very doable. I do like this one for the dining room, though, so it’ll probably stay awhile.

To Everything There Is A Season

2010-11-03T15:10:00.001-06:00

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" Ecclesiastes 3:1

Yesterday I posted that Bible verse with my status update on Facebook. I was talking about my garden mostly, but heavy on my heart was my cousin Debbie. Just as my garden is at the end of the season of bounty and fruitfulness, Debbie was at the end of her own season, her battle with cancer almost over.

Only 51 years old, mother of three, grandmother of six, wife to the love of her life, daughter, sister, niece, and cousin. Her spirit strong and her body full of fight.

That fight ended this afternoon, and like Cousin Patty told me, “Our family is not the same without her.”

A light has gone out and there is a darkness in our hearts right now. I know that darkness will turn back to light, as we fondly remember her time with us, and take comfort in knowing she’s wrapped in God’s Heavenly arms and cannot hurt any more.

As Debbie’s family, we have been forced into a new season we did not want, but that is the way of it, is it not? We go through this season and into the next, just as happens in my garden. There will be light and blooms and beauty again, because she sowed those seeds in our hearts. Y

Oh, You Guys

2010-11-02T20:13:00.001-06:00

I had such noble intentions to get back to blogging on a regular basis, but the days have sped by in a blur, and here it is several weeks between posts yet again.

Besides the quick videos posted last month, let’s take a look at what Brad-man’s been up to lately:

pumpkin shopping

having a birthday!

feeding the goats at the pumpkin patch

snuggling with Grampy

playing in his swing

“helping” in the garden

dressing up for Halloween (as James T. Kirk – Star Trek – for those of you who cannot tell…)

trick or treating for the first time

having his first haircut

and getting a shampoo Mohawk

He’s a busy boy who keeps me running all day, but what a blessing that we get to spend so much time together. I do know how lucky I am!

Chatting with Bradley

2010-10-08T09:06:00.000-05:00

He’s becoming more conversational, even if he does speak his own language.

Sometimes I answer him with the same gibberish and we have a conversation, but about what I don’t know. He’s happy with whatever it is I’m telling him, though.

It’s all part of his speech development and he’s doing great. I look forward to that day when we can have a conversation in my language! :o)

Want “More”?

2010-10-07T20:34:00.001-05:00

Once Bradley started sitting in his high chair to eat, I started using the sign for “more” with him. Yesterday he signed to me for more animal cracker (organic from Whole Foods – yum!):

The reason I chose “more” is because it’s easy for him to put his hands together in front of his body. The sign is made by tapping the tips of your fingers together with your hands closed. When he first started mimicking the sign, it was just like “patty-cake”. Now he’s got one hand closed and one open. I don’t correct him, eventually he’ll close that second hand and make the sign correctly. What’s important is that he’s using the sign to communicate. I think this is very exciting! :o)

It’s time to start learning a new sign – I’m thinking “eat” would be a good one.

(You probably noticed the bubbles. Jess purchased an inexpensive bubble machine for Bradley’s birthday party, but forgot to take it. I put bubble solution in it and just let it run on the front porch while we played. Hundreds of bubbles rained down and he loved them.)

Enchanting

2010-09-19T10:09:00.001-05:00

On Friday afternoon my next door neighbor came over and invited Bradley and me to visit her backyard garden. She’d been out watering and discovered the trees were full of Monarch butterflies. Donna knows how much I enjoy the creatures out in the garden and thought I’d like to show the butterflies to Bradley.

He was very serious while watching them flit around and would point to them in the trees.

At one point I was able to get one onto my finger and hold it closer to Bradley. It only stayed 2 or 3 seconds, but it was cool to hold it.

I had noticed several Monarchs flying around that morning when I walked down the alley, but didn’t really think anything of it. There is a lot of milkweed around the area and that’s what they feed on, so it’s not out of the ordinary to see a few around the yard.

Of course I had to Google for facts about Monarch migration after seeing this gorgeous display. Here’s a condensed version regarding their migration from http://www.monarchbutterflyusa.com/Migration.htm:

“Across the USA monarchs soar and glide in the warm sunshine from March through October (depending where they are born), but what happens in the fall when the brisk cold winds set in and winter looms in the air? Monarchs cannot survive cold winter temperatures of the northern states. So what does a monarch do to keep warm? It MIGRATES south and HIBERNATES! This means that it rests, with a very slow heart rate, just like bears in their hibernation caves. Monarchs east of the Rockies migrate 2500 miles to the Oyamel fir trees of Mexico. Monarchs west of the Rockies migrate to southern California to the eucalyptus trees of Pacific Grove and surrounding areas.

The monarch's flight to Mexico has been compared to the migration habits of birds flying south for the winter. It is the only insect that can fly 2,500 miles to a warmer climate. Their unique wing structure and yearly life cycle makes it possible for the fall generation monarchs to travel thousands of miles (on those amazing little wings) to the warm nesting grounds of Mexico and southern California.”

I am always appreciative and amazed when allowed to witness the wonders of Creation such as this. Hopefully that appreciation is being passed down the generations. Many thanks to Donna for thinking of us and letting us join her in this experience!

Keep on Brushing, Baby

2010-09-14T21:25:00.001-05:00

Jessica is doing a fine job of instilling good dental habits in Bradley. He currently has seven teeth and must be working on some more, what with all the drooling going on.

He loves to have his teeth brushed using “training” toothpaste. This toothpaste has no flouride and is safe for him to swallow. He has a couple of toothbrushes – one sent home for him by the dental hygienist the last time I had a check-up.

Tonight he decided he’d brush his own teeth and his mama got a little video (aren’t cell phone cameras convenient?).

(The voice you hear is Jessica.)

Once he got to try brushing his own teeth, he didn’t want to stop, but he was too tired to keep on for long and gladly traded the toothbrush for a bottle. :o)

A Walk Down Memory Lane

2010-09-11T03:12:00.000-05:00

This title is almost literally what I did one day a few weeks ago. I walked down memory lane in Harrison Park, and I went back, way back to a time of swimming at the pool, running the trails, and Girl Scout day camp near the creek.

Lots has changed in that park since I was a kid. The pool is gone now and you can’t really even tell it was ever there:

What seemed like an enormous concrete monument to summer didn’t really take up all that much space. I did get a little ache in my stomach when snapping this photo. So much of my childhood was spent here.

The pool isn’t the only thing that is gone – all of the play equipment up by the former pool entrance is gone, too. There is just a concrete walking path and a bike rack now.

Off to the west side of that path you can still see the trails through the trees, though. As children we ran those trails, playing in that little bit of wild forest available in the prairie.

Further down the path we come to the one thing that hasn’t really changed about this park, and that is Beaver Creek. Still nasty.

My brothers used to get in there and fish out the wayward golf balls from the country club golf course just to the west. Then they’d sell them back to the club house. I’m not sure they made enough money to justify the icky water and leeches, but that’s what they did. They also used to catch crawdads and bring them home, asking Mom to make them for supper. Thank goodness Mom always declined!

Down in the bottom of the park there were swings and a merry-go-round. This is where we had Girl Scout day camp each summer, and many a picnic. It’s been renovated now with new play equipment, sand volleyball, and a horseshoes area.

If you look closely at the left side of the photo, you’ll see the old merry-go-round – same one from when we were kids.

Bradley enjoyed coming along with me on my walk down memory lane. He was tired and ready for a nap, but listened to me babble on about what fun that park was for me when I was a child, and how much fun he was going to get to have there – different fun, but we’ll make great memories just the same.

Cat On a Hot Asphalt Roof

2010-09-10T05:01:00.000-05:00

The other day I walked outside just as Tucker was readying himself to jump from the back deck rail onto the garage roof. Really? Is 4 cat years really like 12 human years and I’m dealing with a headstrong young boy who knows no danger?!

He barely glanced at me before hopping up onto the roof, then sauntered to the peak and laid down. Then he just watched the birds fly around and cars drive by. I’m thinking to myself, “The cat laid down on the peak of the garage roof. If he can’t get down, I’m NOT going up! Good thing the fire station is just down the alley so I can call for them to rescue my cat…”

Of course it wasn’t necessary to call for rescue. After a few minutes Tucker sauntered down and hopped back onto the deck. Then he scolded me – for what, I’m not sure, but he was quite serious about it.

Max watched all this while lying on the deck step. He was not about to get into any trouble…

“See Mom? I’m the GOOD cat!”

Use the Fork, Brad

2010-09-09T10:40:00.001-05:00

A couple of days ago I gave Brad a little fork to use with his lunch, and noticed that he was using it to eat. Had to get out the camera and get a video. Guess that put the hex on fork usage… Anyway, here’s a short video of him having lunch and me encouraging him to Use the Fork, Brad.

Sunrise on the Prairie

2010-09-08T21:50:00.001-05:00

This is why being up early on Sunday morning is awesome:

I know there is no way with my little point and shoot camera that I will capture the colors – plus this photo was taken while I was sitting in the car, pointing the camera behind me. I wanted a shot of the sunrise so you’d appreciate this:

This is the reflection of the sunrise on the clouds. It was so pretty I had to stop in the middle of the road and just look at it.

Notice the weeds and the corn are both taking on a brownish hue – you know what that means – AUTUMN!

YIPPEE!

Summer Revue

2010-09-05T10:43:00.001-05:00

It has been awhile since I caught up with you all here. I hope someone will read this and that you haven’t given up on me since my last post a couple of months ago!

‘Twas a busy summer, and Bradley has kept me running for most of it. When he took off walking at 8 1/2 months old, I knew I was in for trouble. Not the way I’d planned to spend the summer, but no complaints here. It has been an enormous blessing to watch him grow and learn.

Instead of me writing a novel to catch up on the past few months, lets do it in pictures, shall we?

Went to Sioux City to celebrate Reese’s first birthday,

and Taylor’s third birthday.

Took Randy’s kids to Little Diggers:

Greg built a new swingset for Bradley:

We took a field trip to the Lincoln Children’s Zoo:

There was blue rock shooting (Ben, Alan, Nick),

and target practice:

Of course there was swimming!

(Brad and Jess)

(Taylor)

(Taylor, Grace, Reese)

and Abbie stayed a few weeks.

We took Abbie home to Texas where we enjoyed our first visit to Joe’s Crab Shack…

At the county fair, Bradley fell in love with the baby chicks in the FFA animal tent:

At home, he LOVED sweet corn!

We got to know Scott a little better.

Let’s not forget the flowers

and the vegetables in the garden. Bradley has become an accomplished tomato-picker!

So there you have it, a glimpse into what has been a fun and busy summer around here.

I have several projects planned for this autumn, and there will be fun galore with the grandboy as we prepare to celebrate his first birthday in a few weeks. I hope you’ll stick with me as I get back into the blogging groove!

Boy + Box

2010-07-07T19:52:00.001-05:00

Who needs expensive toys?

When you can have an empty box to play with…

for hours of fun!

Thrifted Treasures

2010-06-03T04:54:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago Bradley and I stopped in at the local Goodwill store and we found a couple of treasures.

First there was this stack of pretty glass bowls:

I just love the lacy look of the outer rim. They have no brandname or markings of any kind, and I have no idea if they’re old or not. I just really liked them, so at 99 cents each, they came home with me.

I have an internet friend, Rhonda, who recently began collecting old Pyrex mixing bowls and such, and I thought of her when I noticed these pieces:

A gravy boat with saucer, and what I assume to be a sugar bowl and creamer?

I don’t collect Pyrex, but again, these were 99 cents each, so I bought them. Maybe I should have said I don’t collect Pyrex… yet. :o)

Peony Season

2010-06-02T05:00:00.000-05:00

In looking at past posts about the garden, there has been little mention of the peonies, one of my favorites. I’ve always loved their sweet smell and big, fat flowers. Mom always said the peonies should bloom by Memorial Day weekend. Some years that’s true, but I have had times when it was a week or more into June before we had flowers.

They always get beaten up by the wind, every year. They’re situated on the West side of our property, and not sheltered one bit. Doesn’t matter, they still give a show, every year.

These are especially meaningful to me because we dug them out of my mom’s yard the summer after she passed away. They need to be divided, so we’ll dig them up this year and spread the love around to other parts of the yard. :o)

Yard Work

2010-06-01T05:00:00.000-05:00

The first morning of the first day of our long Memorial Day weekend was spent out in the hot, hot sun with a chainsaw and the Bobcat as we eliminated a tree out front and a huge weigela bush out back.

The tree was a yew, and was planted by the front deck steps 13 years ago when it was a wee, tiny little thing. It was a memorial gift from a dear friend, given to me when my mom died. You can understand why I was reluctant to take it out, even with Greg telling me for the past few years that it was too big and needed to go.

It had gotten too tall for me to prune by myself, and was lopsided on two sides because of the branches I had to cut. See where the branches grew through the rails by the steps?

Here you can see how the magnolia kept some of the top branches on one side from growing.

An objective look at the tree last week had me finally agreeing to take it out.

We started cutting off branches. Greg had borrowed his dad’s little electric chainsaw that was lightweight enough that I could use it with no problem, yet heavy duty enough to take care of a 13 year old tree. This was my first time to use a chainsaw, and while cutting tools and I have a checkered past, I’m happy to say I did not lose a limb while cutting down this tree. (Get it? “Lose a limb”? Heehee.)

It seriously took just a few minutes before that big yew was reduced to this:

Randy arrived with the kids so they could help clean up branches, and Greg recruited him to help pull out the stump with the Bobcat.

You can see how it was in there so deep and so tight that it lifted the back wheels off the ground. They decided to cut it off at ground level instead…

Around on the other side of the house, I asked Greg to remove this huge overgrown weigela.

I think we planted this about eight years ago? Maybe less, but there was a lot of dead branches inside and a couple of good-sized trees growing in the middle. Besides, we need the space for Bradley’s new swing.

We made short work of this one with the chainsaw, then Greg just used the Bobcat bucket to dig out the roots.

Doesn’t that look better? You can see the chainsaw on the bench – a handy little thing to have around! Did you also notice the 20-ish year old Little Tykes picnic table? My dad gave that to my kids for Christmas when Jess was 2 or 3 years old. It went through daycare kids, several years at Head Start on the playground, and looks a little worn, but is still in great shape! Anyway, like I said, this will be the spot for Bradley’s new swing. (If you click on this photo and enlarge it, you’ll see the nail ball in front of the bench. Yeah, that’ll have to be moved if we have swings back there…)

So having things in your garden and then removing/replacing them are normal cycles, and as much as I hated removing that yew, I’ll choose to put something there that brings me joy. This way I’ll still have that warm feeling of remembering my mom when I look at that spot.

My Neighbor’s Blooms

2010-05-31T03:42:00.000-05:00

My next door neighbor has a very beautiful flower garden in the back part of their property. A week ago Saturday, as I was going blind at the sewing machine, she tapped on the back door and invited me out to the garden for a bouquet of iris. I needed a break and what better place to spend it than in the flowers?

There must be a dozen+ varieties of iris blooming back there right now, different colors, but all of them ruffly and smelling like grape pop. She cut me an armload and I was able to make three vases full for our enjoyment in the house.

For several days, the house smelled florally and grapey whenever we walked by the flowers and stirred the air around them.

Thanks Donna, for being so kind and sharing your beautiful blooms!

How I Made the Playhouse

2010-05-30T17:11:00.001-05:00

One day last winter when I was blog-reading, I came across this idea for a felt playhouse. It’s essentially a slipcover that fits over a table (I used a card table), with an opening to go inside. The one I saw in this blog was really cute and I started following links to see what other creative ideas were out there. I loved it so much and wondered who I knew who was the right age for one of these? Immediately my niece Taylor came to mind – there were several months before her third birthday so I’d have plenty of time to create.

A few Sunday afternoons were spent cutting, sewing, and stuffing the little things. Then everything was tucked away as other projects came along with a shorter deadline. A couple of weeks before the birthday party, I got things out again and prepared to finish up.

Large sheets of posterboard were used to make a pattern the exact size of what the finished side panels would be, then the felt was cut one inch larger on top and the sides for seam allowances. Before the panels were sewn together, each was embellished with whatever scene was going on it.

There is the front door (a panel that flips up over the top to stay open) with a mailbox and flowers in the grass. A small bluebird sits atop the mailbox, but he can go anywhere on any of the panels. There are some felt pieces of “mail”, too (no photos of those) – the flap opens to reveal an opening for mail delivery.

One side has a garden scene with a stalk of sweet corn (peaches and cream variety), a head of cabbage, some carrots, and a couple of radishes.

The next side has an apple tree that houses an owl. The apples can be picked and then put back on the tree.

The fourth side has a clothesline for Taylor to hang her doll clothes. I included real clothespins. The sun is shining in the corner.

My favorite little detail is the butterflies. I used my Cricut to cut out a couple of templates. Then the templates were cut apart with one part being the wings and the other the body. I cut two wings pieces from bright colored felt for each butterfly, then sewed them together in the middle with the black body.

I also love the owl. For his eyes, I used old black buttons, but did decide to ask Angela to take those off so there’s no chance that Reese will bite one off and choke.

The playhouse fit their card table perfectly (I’d emailed Angela for the dimensions, and it was the same as mine) and the kids dove right in to playing. Taylor loved it and Angela reports that the two girls have spent lots of time in it since the party.

Okay, so she’s cheesin’ pretty hard because I told her to smile big! :o)

Jess helped me fit the finished playhouse on the card table the night before the party, and said to me, “You know you’re making one for Bradley.” I already had plans to make one, but wasn’t sure about a theme. We’ve decided on a starry night/space/alien theme and have been planning the construction. Brad’s will hopefully be ready in time for Christmas, since it apparently takes me months to get one done. :o)

Words to Live By

2010-05-30T08:07:00.001-05:00

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies. Mother Teresa

I’m linking to Notes from a Cottage Industry where you can find more Words to Live By…

Words to Live By

2010-05-23T05:00:00.000-05:00

What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life - to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories. ~George Eliot

I love the life we’ve built together over the last 29 years. Here’s to 29 more!

Little Diggers – May

2010-05-17T05:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday was Little Diggers again! The morning began with clouds and a cool breeze, but by the time we got done, the sun was coming out.

The first thing the kids did was wander through the garden, checking out what they planted in April. There were mulched paths to walk on so they didn’t compact the soil where the plants were, nor did they step on any plants.

The markers reminded them of what they planted last time.

The bowling ball lady bugs keep watch over things when the kids are gone.

Wyatt posed with the orange bowling ball caterpillar. All of the bowling ball creatures have been named, but I only remember that one is “Brunswick”.

Time to get down to business. The kids were divided and one group planted head lettuces, the other group did kohlrabi. Here’s Garett putting his kohlrabi in the ground.

I’ve never eaten kohlrabi, but was told it tastes like turnips. We like turnips, so I may try some in my own garden this year.

While Garett did that, Grace and Wyatt were in a third group and helped with the big tomato plant. We all learned about taking the bottom leaves off the tomato plant and making the hole nice and deep. This encourages lots of root growth along the stem, making it strong and able to withstand the seemingly constant prairie winds.

Garett puts a bell pepper in the ground.

While they were at that end of the garden, they planted a little bed of zinnias.

Then they went to the far end of the garden and put in some giant pumpkin plants. These pumpkins should end up as big as some of the smaller kids who were there!

Now that the planting was finished it was time to pull radishes!

Wyatt tentatively tried a bite and said he liked it…

Grace ate a whole one with no hesitation…

Garett didn’t even want to pull them because he said he didn’t like them. When he was reassured that he didn’t have to eat them if he didn’t want to, he was fine. He did eventually decide to take a tiny bite. He said he liked it, but I’m not convinced that either of the boys really did.

Before we left, the kids checked out the goldfish in the pond that is in front of the store. They wanted to just stay there while I went to the greenhouse to look at plants.

Of course that wasn’t happening, so they came with me. They asked if they could have a packet of seeds to plant at home.

Garett chose morning glories, and the other two took sunflowers. I explained to them how the sunflowers would be eaten by the birds when they got big. The kids just seem to be fascinated by seeds and plants and the garden.

We look forward to next month when they’ll still be planting! Sweet corn and watermelon will go in the ground in June. They’ll harvest more radishes and who knows what else will be ready? I did hear someone saying they would learn about pulling weeds…

Birthday Day!

2010-05-16T12:19:00.001-05:00

Today is Greg’s birthday. We celebrated with the kids last night by having supper at Vincenzo’s in the Haymarket in Lincoln.

I pulled out the camera, much to my family’s dismay. Too bad for them, I don’t mind their dismay. :o) Unfortunately, I married Earl Hickey…

and birthed Earl Jr. …

whose sister birthed another little Earl…

Despite the eyes-closed photos, we had a wonderful meal and enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate Greg’s birthday together. There was veal parmigiana, baked cannelloni filled with spinach and chicken, raviolis, and chicken fettuccine. This feast was preceded by an appetizer of crab/artichoke bruschetta (YUM!), and topped off with the sharing of a couple of orders of crème brulee.

Yesterday morning on the way to Little Diggers, I was telling the kids about Greg’s birthday coming up. Wyatt asked me how old Uncle Greg would be – I told him 51. He said, “Ohhhh, fifty – one…” Like it was so ancient. Then he asked me how old I was. I told him 48. “Oh, 48. That’s good!” Like I am so much better off than Uncle Greg…

Happy Birthday Baby – wishing you many, many more!

Blooming Trees

2010-04-19T17:08:00.001-05:00

This year the magnolia tree by the front deck bloomed a couple of weeks later than usual, but when it finally did, it was lovely. I say “was” because the flowers are pretty much gone already. Most of the blossoms turned brown so I suspect they got a little frosted, then the wind beat them up and took them away. It was pretty while it lasted. This photo was taken a week ago when the buds were just starting to bloom.

Out back, the ornamental cherry tree bloomed late last week. The butterflies love this tree.

Today while Bradley and I were outside, the breeze would shower us with cherry blossoms. Made me smile.

It’s a Whole New World…

2010-04-17T20:08:00.001-05:00

When your perspective becomes vertical rather than horizontal,

and then you discover the big window.

This is Bradley’s new favorite spot now that he’s pulling himself up to stand and can see beyond the confines of the living room.

So many interesting things to discover!

Little Diggers – April

2010-04-10T21:13:00.002-05:00

There is a children’s gardening program at a local nursery, and I was able to sign up Wyatt, Garett, and Grace to go. They loved helping their mom with her big garden last summer, so I thought they might enjoy gardening with lots of other kids, too. They liked the idea when I asked them, and were very excited to go today.

It was a little cloudy and temps were a brisk 40-something with a fairly good breeze, but they had a great time! Here they are at the entrance to the garden:

Today they sowed seeds for carrots and radishes. Stephanie is showing Grace how to spread the tiny seeds. (Stephanie is the Little Diggers coordinator.)

Next up, they planted seed potatoes. Wyatt has his fists together – this is how they told them to measure the distance needed between each potato.

Onion sets came next.

Lastly they planted broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and kohlrabi plants.

After all the planting, they got a tour of the greenhouses and were encouraged to touch and smell all of the plants. Before we left, each of the kids was given a packet of seeds. Then we headed to the greenhouses where they each picked out a pack of flowers to take home.

It was so much fun that we all look forward to going again next month when they’ll plant more of their garden. During the summer they’ll take care of the plants and then will get to harvest the fruits of their labors as they’re ready.

I think it’s just awesome that they’re learning to garden at home and at Little Diggers. Their enthusiasm was so catching that after I delivered them to their Grandma, I spent a few hours working on my own garden. Today I prepped the raised beds. Tomorrow I plant. Stay tuned…

Projects

2010-04-08T13:26:00.001-05:00

Bradley’s beginning to have some semblance of a napping/eating schedule finally, and on good days I sometimes have a little time to do some crafting on weekdays. Usually my “power-crafting” time comes on weekends.

Here are a few things I’ve been working on lately:

A four-patch pieced quilt top. This one goes to www.quiltsforkids.com and I’ll post more when I finally am able to finish it. I need a walking foot for my sewing machine and am having trouble finding one…

A friendly greeting on the front door. This photo shows it done in vinyl, which lasted about one afternoon. I’ve traced it and am going to paint it on. More on that when it’s finished, too.

Some soldered pendants I made as gifts. Two of them are for the PIF I posted about a year ago January. Internet friends Dawn and Sharon each got one. The others will be off to their new owners shortly, and guess what? I’ll post more about that another time, too!

Next up is a sneak peek at the scrapbook I’m working on for our niece, Hannah, for graduation. These pages are from her Junior Prom. (Grace thought she looked like Belle from Beauty & the Beast!)

Lastly, Grace and I made a new decorated bowling ball to put outside. She and I worked on it over the weekend when they stayed at the end of March, then I finished it over that next week. Right now it’s sitting on the wooden shelf on the front porch:

It has silver/clear/iridescent flat marbles and really shines bright in the sunlight! There are a few more “blank” bowling balls in the garage, so, yes, I’ll post another day about how I do these.

So I guess I am getting a thing or two done around here even though it sometimes seems that all I do is feed and rock the baby (not complaining!). In fact, at the moment, there are two babies here and they’re both being so good while I write this post. Bradley is “discovering” the CD rack and the 2 1/2 month-old girl is kicking her feet and smiling sweetly while she hiccups away. :o) Time for me to go play!

She’s Employed!

2010-04-05T20:26:00.001-05:00

Since the beginning of February, Jessica has been working a temporary full-time job in the office at Tabitha Health Care Services. She got the job through ASI, an employment agency, so she knew when she started that it would be just a 4-6 week stint. We didn’t know why the 4-6 weeks, but figured someone was out on maternity or medical leave of some kind. She was happy to get out of the fast food biz for at least a few weeks, and really clicked with the other people in the office.

Turns out the job was open, and after she worked there just two days, one of the other staff brought her an application and told her to apply for the permanent position. She did just that.

Lots of HR hoops to jump through, and they extended the ASI contract, but finally today they offered her the permanent full-time job. Yea! It’s such a great environment for her, with wonderful people and a stable company. We’re very happy for her!

Preparing

2010-04-03T20:07:00.001-06:00

Last weekend I had the kids here for a couple of days and we dyed some eggs to get ready for Easter.

Each got their own bowl of eggs and cups of dye.

Grace took a photo of the final product.

They really wanted to display them, so we piled the beautiful eggs in a basket to put on the table. I forgot to put them in the frig before I went to bed, so these eggs were decoration only…

Bradley watched all the fun, listening and learning for next year!

Ever Wonder What a Laptop Tastes Like?

2010-03-30T19:38:00.001-06:00

Last night I was sitting on the living room floor with my computer on my lap. Bradley crawled across the room and peeked up over the screen at me…

then he took a taste.

Yum.

Back to the Past – Easter version

2010-03-26T21:47:00.001-06:00

Here is an Easter photo from 1966:

I would have been 4 1/2, Arlan – 8 mos., Alan 21 mos., Tonita 3 1/2 years. Mom was expecting Randy who would be born the next September.

One of my favorite childhood memories is when we colored Easter eggs. We always did it on the evening before Easter Sunday.

Mom would boil the eggs and make up the colored water in coffee cups on the table. I remember that we used spoons to dip the eggs rather than the little wire dipper doodad that came with the box of color tablets. We’d all gather round the table and see how creative we could get – there were a few very interesting color combinations over the years. We also used the wax stick that was enclosed with the color tablets to draw mod flowers and write our names. Mom let us do whatever we wanted, and the older we got, the wilder the eggs got.

Here we are circa 1972 or 73 on Easter Sunday. (l to r: Alan, Randy, Tonita, me, Arlan)

The original photo was a Polaroid so there was no date. I remember the shirt I was wearing, and I want to say I was 11 years old or so…

We were on our way to Sunday School, then over to Grandma and Grandpa Adams’s for a little while to play with the cousins. It was a Sunday morning tradition to gather at Grandma’s and visit.

Lastly, we have Easter Sunday 1978.

Tonita, me, Mom on the couch, Alan on the floor in front (notice his original “Super Ducks” t-shirt. That was the first year that York’s Girls Basketball team won State. I still have my t-shirt. No, you cannot borrow it for Homecoming or Basketball season. Yes, I’ve been asked several times.) We were getting ready to go to Henderson to Grandma and Grandpa Regier’s house for Easter dinner.

Mom sewed my top and skirt as well as her own. They were wrap skirts and I loved mine.

This is me and Randy playing nice. :o)

Alan didn’t want to play…

We don’t always get to gather for Easter anymore, though we each have wonderful in-law families to celebrate with. I will, however, be thinking of them all when I help the kids color eggs tomorrow!

Grace Makes Rainbows

2010-03-17T19:18:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday the kids spent the day here. While the boys played Wii, Grace and I made some Rainbow Cupcakes for a spot of sunshine on a very gray and cloudy day.

The recipe is posted here. It’s from Family Fun, one of my favorite magazines for fun things to do with kids.

Essentially, we mixed up a white cake mix, divided and colored the batter, then layered it in cupcake papers.

Grace had never held the hand mixer by herself before:

She did a great job and followed all of my instructions so we didn’t get cake batter all over the kitchen.

Here she is putting one of the last layers of colored batter in the cupcake papers. This was a tedious process, but she was very patient.

After they cooled, I frosted and she decorated. She used jelly beans and rainbow sprinkles.

Garett was kind enough to show off the inside of his cupcake for the camera. They actually were a bit more striped than this shows.

Isn’t it pretty? They definitely brightened a dreary day!

Diggin’ It!

2010-03-13T15:40:00.001-06:00

The kids spent a good part of today at my house, but we did run to town for an errand, and on the way, we were watching geese fly overhead, and talking about Spring being on it’s way (please?).

With Randy’s and Leslie’s permission, I’ve signed up the kids and myself to participate in the Little Diggers program at a local nursery beginning next month. Little Diggers have a vegetable garden and the kids get to plant and take care of the garden all through the summer.

So I mentioned Little Diggers to the kids and they said yes, they knew about it, their mom had told them. I asked if they thought it was a good idea that we go, and they all said yes, they wanted to go. Then Grace said, “I can dig. I can dig really fast! I can dig really fast like a BEAVER!”

I look forward to seeing that. :o)

Making Our Own Sunshine

2010-03-11T09:53:00.001-06:00

Yes, the days are cloudy and gray. Cold today with a probability of a few inches of snow overnight. Winter is lingering, and anyone who expected differently is disappointed.

This grayness is depressing, robbing us of energy and verve. (verve [vɜːv] n great vitality, enthusiasm, and liveliness; sparkle)

This morning when I walked into work, I was greeted by this:

We’re done waiting for Mother Nature to restore our vitality, enthusiasm, liveliness, and sparkle.

We make our own sunshine, Man!