from her sketchboook...

recycling bin fun...

As the little one was sitting on my lap this morning as I perused the paper. I thought it would be fun to cut up the supermarket flyer and make her own little "food book".

We cut, we glued, we labeled and now she has this handy dandy little book. She said she will use it in her "kitchen", for her grocery list.

OK, I have way too many sprinkles, this is only the beginning of my collection (eek!). There are dinosaurs, race cars, abc's, autumn leaves and more

Little one had a friend who is a boy over yesterday and he just wasn't into playing house, dolls, etc. which is perfectly understandable so to liven things up a bit I pulled out a roll of the old slice and bake and they piled high and had a blast.

Here is a tea cozy and quilted hot pad I finished up this morning. I love this combination of color and patterns, I think it's very British Edition Country Living-esque.

Since my parents were born and raised in Ireland, tea time was most definitely routine at our house. I have many memories of sitting around the table drinking tea with family and visitors. I even remember putting tea in my baby sister's bottle-oh yes, times have changed...

These days I'm pretty much a coffee girl, but tea will always be a comforting memory.

I'll be adding this to the etsy shop later today.

We have to get ready for our Rosary Group now.

Have a wonderful day and a Blessed Thanksgiving!

pretty in pink...

I have been wanting to try to make one of these little tutus for a while. It wasn't hard and you can find instructions all over the web. For anyone who is not inclined to tackle this one yourself, I will be posting this pouffe of pink made for a little girl under 3 on my etsy shop.

and this apron made with Ava Rose fabric...

sorry tutu and ava rose apron sold

and this one made with April Cornell fabric...

I went out with a few friends from Mothers Group last night, it was a birthday celebration for one of the girls. We went to a place in town with the most delicious Ceasar salad I have ever come across. They take a head of romaine lettuce cut it right down the middle and put it on the grill for a minute, add a wonderful dressing, an extremely tender tasty sliced chicken breast and crispy croutons and wow, what a treat!

Since we are in wreath making mode around here, I thought a wreath would be a nice gift for the birthday girl. Of course it's too early for Christmas but I made this one earthy for Thanksgiving and then if she wants she can change the bow or anything else and dress it up for Christmas.

To the wreath I added pine cones, acorns, tied on strips of burlap and a raffia bow, and wella! one totally organic, biodegradable wreath, minus the metal frame.

OK, I think this is pretty much the last of the garden, I think I've said that before, but I really think this is it. Hubby brought in a bushel of cauliflower. Today I must puree it for the freezer and pull it out sometime on a chilly mid-winter afternoon and make some cream of cauliflower soup. It's pretty much the only way we will eat cauliflower. It doesn't require too much cream to make it yummy. I have made it with cream, half and half and even 1% milk and to me it tastes just as good without all the fat.

Have a great day!

November 24, 2008

Outside my window...It is still quite chilly...

I am thinking...about the errands I have to do...

I am thankful for...a fun weekend. Time with friends, family and I got to fill in down at Lulu and Tutz Friday and Saturday afternoon-it was so fun-I loved it!

From the learning room... a few of the books we are currently reading...

The Man Who named the Clouds by Julie Hannah and Joan Holub

Rivka's First Thanksgiving by Elsa Okon Rael

Give Thanks to the Lord by Karma Wilson

The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving by Ann McGovern

From the kitchen...We just made blackberry muffins, with these blackberries from the freezer.

I am wearing...it's not pretty but it is comfy...

I am creating...lots of things...

I am going...to make this quick so I can get in the shower...

I am reading...Mothers Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot

Real Learning by Elizabeth Foss

I am hoping...for a productive day

I am hearing...splish splashing coming from the bathroom

Around the house...The usual Monday clean up...

One of my favorite things...Thanksgiving...

A few plans for the rest of the week: sew, clean, make bows for the wreaths, spend time with my family=)

A picture thought I am sharing with you...we learn as we do...

Thanks for hosting Peggy!

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

brrr....

It feels like the middle of January around here...brrrr.........

My in-laws live down the block from us and across the street along this creek. I have spent many hours over the years reading down there by the water as hubby and the kids fished.

This is the view from their sunroom, isn't it so pretty?

We came across this wonderful farm yesterday with the lovliest poinsettias I have ever seen.

I believe it was Amish owned so this buggy is the real deal.

Yes, I know it's too early to start thinking about Christmas for many, after all Advent hasn't even started yet, but hubby has begun those wreaths, so around here it is begining to look a little like Christmas.
These were so healthy and beautiful and a picture just doesn't quite capture the beauty.

Happy Monday!

I have been doing lots of sewing the last couple of days. We will participate in the Artisan Fair at our church next month. Hubby will make his hand tied pine wreaths, I will make festive greenery arrangements and bring some things I make, such as....

Sachets made with home grown lavender (thanks Suzanne!), rose petals and other dried flowers from our garden, scraps of pretty fabric, vintage hankies and buttons.

I really like how these came out, I hope I can part with them;)

Some girly girl aprons...
flour sack tea towels and some clipboards and whatever else I get to making...

Oh... and Lulu and Tutz are having a sale on black Friday, here's the coupon.

back to the drawing board...

my daughter doing a self portrait...

hope you are having a great Saturday!

oh happy day!!

Let's enjoy it while it lasts!

sewing and serving...

It's a dark rainy day today. I was able to get some sewing done this morning. These are dish towels made of flour sack cloth. Most of the fabric is from Tanya Whelan's Ava Rose line, which I really like, this picture does not do it justice.

At our Mothers Group meeting this month, one of our Mom's gave a fabulous presentation on how to make the holiday table special-some lovely little touches. She showed us a few different techniques of napkin folding...

I had trouble getting these down at first, but I have it now.


She made up these little cards for our recipe boxes-great idea...

My mom used to set a complete table for special occasions... Here is the pattern to make these lovely little treats to leave at each setting...

Serving as both a favor and a place card and you can fill them with a sweet treat or note or something...

I am normally a pretty simple gal and don't get too formal...

Who knows, I may make a little extra effort on those special occasions in the future.

Just another wonderful way to show your love and bless your family.

the weekend...

On Friday we went to an Alpaca Farm with our homeschool group.

This is her best bud from that group.

I thought they were really peculiar but very lovable animals. It was the farm of an older couple . They process the fibers of the alpacas and I believe their daughter is the knitter, and makes some very luxurious accessories, I wish I took a picture of those.

The kids all took turns a few at a time walking out in the pasture among them. The alpacas are unusually social creatures.

It was a nice weekend, with not too much going on.

I find myself looking for ways the little one can contribute.

Like most 4 year olds she loves to help and she needs to help, it's really good for her self esteem.

She is a really good roller upper, which we recently discovered.

So it was meatballs for dinner last night!

Oh, she was so proud...

I had my Mothers Group over Friday night for a book discussion. We are reading A Mother's Rule of Life by Holly Perliot. I've read it before but it was good so I don't mind reading it again.

I think I should have company every Friday night because I really enjoyed going into the weekend with a clean house. I function better in order. I just think clearer. So overall it made this a more pleasant, relaxing and productive weekend. All that from a few hours of strenuous house cleaning.

Have a great Monday we are off to storytime at the library.

a few good reasons...

Well.....

Next time I make such an important decision-like to blog or not to blog, I better check with the rest of my family first. It turns out they all really like that I have this blog. I was so surprised to find out what it meant to them. So I have decided to continue and I am happy with that decision.

If not for the blog where would I chronicle all of our adventures?

For instance driving 1 hour each way to King of Prussia Mall last night so my daughter could go store to store asking for bags for an upcoming art project. She will be creating some kind of garment out of them. She asked me some time ago and I was happy to oblige. I want to support her creativity any way I can. We take the drive there about once a year and it was fun-a good memory.

Or this one...

After two days making some strides in cutting down on the sugar and carbs, coming home to these cupcakes that my son made...

Sabatouge I tell you!

So I'm back, and I'll continue making entries into this scrapbook of ours.

See ya!

Just wanted to let you know I will be breaking from blogging for a while, maybe for good, I'm not sure yet. Lately I have been asking myself why I blog and I really don't have a reason good enough to justify the time it takes. So unless I come up with one, this is it folks.

I will miss it for sure. It's been fun!

You see, I have this precious little girl here who is showing signs she is ready to work on some more challenging pre-reading skills and a little more structure in her learning-how exciting! So I'm going to go figure out how to make the most of the rest of this preschool year and try and make it as wonderful as I possibly can.

Thanks for your support, Gods bless!

And don't forget to vote!

peace,

amy

Happy All Saints Day!

I was going to run out to Joanne's the other day and pick up fabric to make a couple of costumes. She was thinking she wanted to be a bee for trick or treating and I also needed to put something together for the All Saints Day Party this evening at our church.

Before I went to Joanne's I ran down to the "studio" to double check I didn't already have some of the materials on hand for this. It was like one of those Edward Scissorhands moments and 10 minutes later we had this...

1 black tee shirt of daddy's, a little bias tape scrap around the waist, a bit of white flannel and some black fabric I didn't know I had and once again...

Total Cost in materials=$0 Memories=priceless

We had a nice time trick or treating with our neighbors last night.

We are really looking forward to Mass this evening when all the children will all be dressed as there favorite saint ( I was going for St. Fasustina, she insists that she is St. Therese-fine with me ;) and process in followed by what promises to be a great party afterwards with pizza, games and crafts.

*************************************************************************
Just had to share this recipe...

These little hands are pretty darn icky but believe me they are key to success to this recipe...

This recipe is for the best gingersnaps I have ever had...I'm not kidding!

A fuzzy picture of some of the finished product...

Gingersnaps

1/4 C butter

1/2 C vegetable shortening (I didn't have any so I used margarine)

1 C packed brown sugar

1/4 C molasses

1 egg

2 1/4 C sifted flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ginger

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter, shortening, brown sugar, molasses and egg until light and fluffy. Sift together all dry ingredients; Combine both mixtures. Form dough into walnut size balls-with really floury fingers, then press into flat circles on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 7 minutes or until golden brown. Remove cookies from cookie sheet as soon as they are cool. Makes about 4 dozen.

A couple of cookies and some fresh crispy apple slices make a special afternoon snack. Enjoy!