Friday, April 29, 2011

broken and a question

The NEW laptop is broken, which is why I haven't been posting. I do have fun things about the garden to share, new crafty pursuits, and a question. Just the question today, though.

If you are married, what was your favorite wedding gift? What was the most used or useful? I am trying to figure out what I am going to give a couple in my Sunday school class who are getting married. They are registered of course, but I wanted to make them something. Or I might make and buy them something so I don't appear cheap. Do you think it's lame to give potholders? Okay I know it's lame, but that's one wedding present we have used every day since we got them. I'm also planning on making them something crafty and cute with their wedding date on it, I'm just not sure on the rest. I don't know them really well, but would like it to be a fun gift to open.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

original artwork thursday

When I looked back over my week I couldn't find anything crafty at first, and as I was about to pull out the supplies and draw something specifically for this post, Nathan reminded me of this little box I turned inside out. I just love the inside of the yogi tea boxes, so I decided to flip it. There are a couple of unsightly glue marks but I think they could easily be covered with a ribbon tied around or a cool sticker.

The inside could probably be painted or covered with fancy paper, but I kind of like it the way it is. If I do another one soon I may give that a try.





This is the perfect size for a couple bars of homemade soap, or even a crocheted headband! It was so quick and easy. I used elmer's for this one, but I recommend using hot glue. (That's what I'll use on the next one!)





Wednesday, April 20, 2011

garden update again

The marigolds have sprouted! Lydia and I planted these and they have actually come up in spite of the bout of cold weather the other night.

Irises have actually bloomed!



I'm hoping there will be so much to update soon that I won't be able to keep up!


garden update: tiller edition

Onions are growing in the compost pile. I don't know if we should eat these!


Flowers! I think irises are about to bloom! I love purple irises.



Marigolds are planted and another flower pot is painted. It looks like an easter egg, so I'm going to have to change it somehow. I have a few thoughts...



This is "the corn patch". Nathan has worked so hard on it! There is still more tilling to be done, but this part is ready to be planted come May 3.




The old OLD tiller required some cleaning and a couple of small parts (a filter and another little thing) It took a couple of days, but Nathan got this old thing working! I love that he can figure anything out. Personally, I would have called it dead.




Another couple patches like this will take 15 minutes off Nathan's mow time.

Did you notice how much I mentioned Nathan this post? I went out and tried to help him with moving the top grassy layer, and I screamed a couple of times because of worms. I am learning. Worms are not something I am prepared to deal with. Thank goodness he will do all this garden/farm stuff for us!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

remedy this

To those of you who read and are, shall we say.... more natural? I have a question. How do you treat your children for sicknesses, from mild to medium (anything serious and I'm headed to the ER!)?

Lately we have been trying to use a more natural approach for medication which, so far, has included waiting for a bit to see if it will go away and drinking herbal teas and lots of orange juice. Recently it seems Isaiah has been congested for far too long and I am searching for a possible sinus infection cure. I have been putting grapefruit seed extract in his orange juice every day for about 5 days now and am really hoping to see a discernible difference. So far, it might have helped a little. I would like to get this little kid feeling better, so I'm open to any and all natural suggestions.

Of course nothing I say about this should be misconstrued as medical advice:)

Monday, April 18, 2011

Vacation Recap


These are some pictures of us at one of my very favorite restaurants. I could seriously eat their wings every day of the week. Amazing awesomeness.


Nathan cooperating for a picture for once!


Chloe digging the ice out of my cup Toby slept the entire time there
Isaiah and Lydia for the one moment they weren't asking if we could play pool on the pool table :)



Now for the recap:


  • We ate. Lots of yummy high carb foods.

  • We laid around.

  • Nathan fixed the tiller (it used to be his grandfather's) This sounds boring, but it was so exciting that for about $6 plus a lot of elbow grease we now have a working tiller! The area for our corn has been tilled up. Pictures will come in the next garden update.

  • We played outside and did very little housework.

  • We visited Nathan's grandmother twice. Prayers for her would be appreciated.

  • Nathan fixed the shelf in my pantry so canned goods aren't all over the kitchen anymore!

  • We went to church and had a great time in Sunday school yesterday. We are currently discussing which way our class should go next--what we should focus on and study. Next week everyone is supposed to come back with ideas and suggestions. I'm really excited to see where this goes. I'm thinking of offering sustainable living/frugal workshops over the summer. I was thinking we could do making your own laundry detergent, bread making, chicken butchering, chicken tractor building (Nathan's idea), canning and preserving (although I'm a real novice at this!) Any suggestions or other ideas to add to this? We aren't really sure we will have any response at all, but I'm hoping others will be interested in some of these things.

  • Everyone got new shoes EXCEPT ME!! What the heck?! I am really wanting these awesome shoes or a pair of birkenstocks. What do you think?

  • I had so much fun spending time away from the blog this week, but I'm also glad to be back with lots of new things to share with you!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

original artwork thursday

Quick and fun. I think I would still like to add to this one. And I got to use more puff paint!

I am getting dangerously close to filling up my sketchbook!!


I hope your week is going great :)

Friday, April 8, 2011

what did you have for breakfast?



Four bowls of cooling oatmeal on the windowsill makes me so happy. My kids love it and it's good for them. Everyone knows which bowl is theirs and they will be well fed and full for at least an hour... on the days we have it.

Today we had corn pops. What can I say? Sometimes easier/faster/less dishes wins. (more often than not this week!)

Nathan is on vacation next week, so I'm not sure when I'll be popping in. Probably a couple of times at least :)

Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

original artwork thursday

I got in a quick sketch in the Lowe's parking lot on Saturday and finished it up with a little watercolor at home. I've had these basic lacy shapes rolling around in my head since I painted my boots and wanted to do something else with them. This is really a quick one that I don't love, but I might reuse this pink and ochre color combination again along with some of the shapes.
This paint is being used to spruce up some ugly flower pots.


I began painting them this lovely avocado color yesterday. I really want to get some aqua paint and have avocado and aqua flower pots full of marigolds and nasturtiums. Even though I dislike marigolds, we are using them as a companion plants for our garden.

How are your artsy endeavors coming along?

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

what I found

I once mentioned that we had gotten a record player and that I was so excited about it. The search began for some good records. Or should I say albums? Every time I go to goodwill or a thrift store I look through all the records I can find, and up to this point have found only a few 33s that were worth the 50 cents I paid for them. This past Saturday, though, I found some beauties in protective covers. The lady checking me out said that someone must have died for me to find such good stuff! I surely hope not. First of all, JOURNEY. These were $10 or more on etsy and I got it for 50 cents Chicago! A little brass makes me happy. I play the trumpet, you know. Well, I can still play a little.
My mom loves Jackson Browne.

Mostly I know of foghat because of the movie Dazed and Confused which I watched about a hundred times in high school.

And another Journey!!! Before the ceremony at our wedding we played a little journey, along with some other classics.
Plus a Jimmy Buffet for my sweet husband.
Besides the records I found a stack of fabric squares. Some cute, some not so much.

And an emersion blender! It will be a handy tool whenever we start making our own soap. Eventually.

Grand total: $7.50

It was a good day at goodwill.

guess


You'll never guess what I found at goodwill the other day....

Monday, April 4, 2011

swingset pics and video

Here's the new swingset. The best part is the sandbox!

I just love finding such a great deal. This was $50 well spent (plus the cost of sand)


Here's a little video of everyone playing. Plus, you'll get to hear Chloe's sweet little voice :)

Friday, April 1, 2011

fun boots

Inspired by a post here, I just had to give it a try. Here is the before: And here are the after shots:


I think they turned out pretty cute! What do you think? This project was so fun not to mention FREE! I already had the ugly black boots and bottles of paint. I think my favorite part is the lace-ish detailing at the top of the boots.


3/4 of my kids took advantage of all the bottles of puff paint sitting on the counter (the other was napping). Some lovely art was produced by all. I would show you a picture of them working, but since we were using fabric paint I made them paint in their skivvies. I don't think they would appreciate those pictures being shown around!

low carb lowdown



  • I lost a couple more pounds this week after an accidental derailment at O'Charley's last weekend. I ordered something that I thought would be a good low carb option, that turned out not to be. So I would say that I am officially 25 pounds down.

  • Last night's low carb lasagna was so yummy. Just make your favorite lasagna recipe without the noodles and the lowest carb sauce that you can find. I prefer it the day after, straight out of the fridge. I was so excited that Toby ate some of it including the spinach! It has been hard to get him to eat anything besides PB and J or crackers and sometimes bananas for about a month. He chooses not to eat lots of times.

I guess that's it! Have a happy Friday and a lovely weekend!!!