Patchwork love

I do not consider myself a quilter. I don't think that following proper patterns and snipping thousands of little octagons and hand-piecing them together is really my thing.

 

 

 Using up what I have, making simple, pretty things, and borrowing on past successes is my thing.

 

 

Since making the patchwork Kindle case, I felt a new confidence to try my hand at patchworking again, though on a larger scale. I also had two other considerations to make:

1. I have a large bin full of scrap material that I have no interest in moving yet again. At least, I'd like to use as much as I can!
2. Anyone who knows me knows I make each of my new babies a blanket. Some have been crocheted, some knitted, and one rescued from the thrift store and given new life and service. This new wee babe needs her own blanket, just like the others.

 

I'm so pleased at the way this turned out. It's very forgiving, not showing just how crooked my seams are. It's also special, since every piece is a scrap of some other project. We've all enjoyed looking at the different pieces and remembering other things that were made or worn by and for others. "Hey, that's in Ellie's skirt!" "Remember that dress you made for Anna? That piece is from there!" Even the backing was once used as wall decoration in the previous house.

 

In spite of not really knowing what I'm doing and kind of making it up as I go along, something sweet, simple, and serviceable has been made. I'm looking forward to putting it into use.

 

 

 

My new Kindle case

Every so often, you complete a project that turned out just as you had hoped. This one was mine.

 I found this tutorial on Pinterest and was intrigued. Not that I need another Kindle case, but I do have some cute material to use up and I wasn't completely happy with my old case.

 I would like to point out that I have little experience with patchwork, and there are several places where my seams aren't straight, but it doesn't really matter. The sewing tips were great and the whole pattern is rather forgiving.

 Thanks to helpful instructions and some fabric that I love, I have a cute, functional case that will keep my little reader pretty and scratch-free.

Love.

Rental decorating

When we moved in, we decided that even though we have loads of pictures and paintings for the walls, we weren't going to hang them all because we (Toby) didn't want to deal with filling in lots of holes at the end of the year. At the same time, we (I) didn't want to live inside a bare shell for almost a year. So, we compromised.

There are a few of our special pieces up, but not in the kids' rooms yet. So, the kids' rooms became my first project.

In the boy's room, I made a little banner out of some leftover fabric and yarn.

 Since it was only a matter of cutting, and threading the yarn through holes poked into the corners of the triangles, this little project sits firmly in the "no-sew" category.

 In the little girls room, I used an idea I found on Pinterest to iron these little dots onto the walls using fabric circles I'd cut out for something years ago and some heat and bond fusible backing.

 Iron the circles to the backing, cut them out with the backing on and iron them to the wall. Avoid scorch marks by placing some fabric between your circle and your iron.

 The pin that served as my inspiration recommended doing it with your child's name, but that involved more than I could handle with half a dozen excited people around and bedtime approaching.

All photos taken by Anna!

Currently, Abigail and Caleb have a banner that I made years ago gracing their walls, and for now, it'll do. I'd love to do something else for them soon - just waiting for (more) inspiration to strike!

Make your life easier

I don't know anyone who doesn't want to make life a little easier on themselves. How we go about it tend to differ from person to person, though. Here are a few things I've found to help smooth our family's wrinkles:

• Don't snack. I have a confession to make - I am a professional snack-er (it's a shame I don't get paid for it). I could eat all. day. long. For real. However, my metabolism isn't what it was 20 years ago and my waist (or current lack thereof) can't cope with the extra food. Then, of course, there's the six little people who call me "mom" - they inherited my love of food and my habits. I was finding it positively stressful to keep them in food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus at least 2 snacks a day! Then I remembered this book I read earlier this year and how the French don't really snack, and I thought, "If a whole country of people can live without snacks, I think we probably can, too." And you know, it's worked! We all eat better at our meals because we're hungrier for them, and there are less food-breaks in the day, which means less food prep, less clean up, and less money at the store! Hopefully, it'll eventually mean less numbers on the scale, too...
• Meal plan. I know most people know that they should plan dinners and do so, but recently I've been planning our breakfasts and lunches, too. It's a rolling plan - every Monday lunch is this kind of sandwich, Wednesday is soup day, etc. It means less money at the store (again) because you don't need to rely on cereal and lunch meat everyday, and it fosters a little creativity in the kitchen. I know my family appreciates that.
• Know when to multi-task and when not to. I know there's a lot said about how multitasking is bad for us (like here and here and here), and I know that it's a concept that many of us are somewhat addicted to. So, here's my thought - know when you can spare the mental space to multitask, and when to be fully "in the moment". I've recently been spending 20 - 30 minutes on the exercise bike every morning, so I've been reading on the Kindle while I cycle. It's been a good time for me to get some regular exercise and get some reading in - and I'm more faithful to workout when I've got a book I'm into. That's a good time to multitask. A good time to be fully in the moment is when my child is talking to me. Heaven help me, this isn't easy for me. I have to often stop what I'm doing and look at them. This is especially helpful for me, as I struggle to hear them when there is a lot of background noise, so making eye contact when they are speaking really helps me to tune into what they're saying. Trying to continue typing at the computer while my son is showing me his Lego creation would not be fully engaging and a poor attempt to multitask. Ahem.

What is something you do to make your life a little easier?

A Few New Things

I know I shared the overall plan of what we're doing for school this year, I've also started a few new things that have helped this past week or just made our school time a little more fun:

• They have cool subject binder covers.
  

This may not be that popular with high school students, but for elementary and middle school students, having something fun that you can decorate yourself is a big deal.

• We have an "I wonder..." board. You know all those interesting/random questions your kids ask you that deserves an answer but not in the middle of a math lesson? Well, we set up a cork board, provided some slips of paper, and now when there is a question, they write it down and pin it to the board. During some down time, one of the older kids or myself can choose a question, Google it, and voila - one of the perks of homeschooling has been recognized without derailing a whole hour of work.
• The little guys have a duplo challenge. I constructed some fairly simple duplo creations, took pictures of them, printed and laminated them. Then I loaded up some baskets with the photos and the duplos needed to replicate what's in the photos. Dan is getting really good at studying the cards and working to build the exact picture on the card! I know it's teaching him some good skills, but mainly I'm happy that it keeps him constructively occupied for a few minutes.
• I work with them. While the big girls are growing in independence (and it's about time, too!), I'm choosing to work along side them in certain areas. I practice the Latin prayers, read the musical biographies, and try to draw the pictures. Modeling being a learner, I hope, will take some of the fear out of being learners themselves.

What fun things are you doing to make this school year fun?

School - Better late than never

I know most schools, even homeschools, got back in business the week of Labor Day, and some even sooner than that. What with our moving, and all, we decided to postpone the start of school to coincide with Toby's first day - September 16. With one week of school under our belts, I figured I was past due to share what is in store for my kiddos this year.

Bible, History & Literature are all brought to us by Veritas Press. We used Veritas for these subjects last year and I was really happy with how it all went. For Bible, we're covering Acts to Revelation, History is 1815 to Present, and all three kids are reading from their grade specific reading lists. Abi's 6th grade list includes Around the World in 80 Days, Farenheit 451, and The Lord of the Rings. Anna's 5th grade reading list has Anne of Green Gables, Heidi, and Where the Red Fern Grows. Noah, the 2nd grader, will be reading Owls in the Family, Baby Island, and Encyclopedia Brown.

For math, we'll continue with Math U See. We've been using this program for 6 years - since it ain't broke, we'll not waste time trying to fix it. We're now using Beta, Epsilon, and Zeta.

For science, we're doing a couple of things. Abi is using the God's Design for Science: The Human Body. It's largely independent (needful for me, at this point), with some good experiments/hands on options, which she loves. Anna and Noah are both using the Christian Liberty Press Nature readers. Anna reads her chapter from Volume 5 and answers questions, whereas Noah reads and narrates, as there are no questions in Volume 1. We're doing science twice a week, and so far, so good.

The sleeper success has been Latin. It took months to decide on whether or not to do it, so we had already ordered everything else for the year by the time we agreed to give it a shot. On a recommendation, we bought Latina Christiana I from Memoria Press for the two big girls. We originally planned on doing it 3 days a week, but they enjoyed it so much(!) that we might end up doing it 5 days. They would probably benefit from more drills/games, but I don't want to overdo it, either.

Almost every year we make some kind of change to our language arts program - why should this year be any different? The Institute for Excellence in Writing not only has their writing curriculum (which we are using), but they've also put out a grammar curriculum for grades 3-12 called Fix-It! It's pretty straightforward and user-friendly, not to mention $30 for several years of grammar - can't beat that! It ties in well with their writing curriculum, and though you don't need to use the writing curriculum to use Fix-It!, there is some crossover.
We are, for the first time, doing IEW's writing curriculum in earnest, and we're continuing with The Phonetic Zoo for spelling. I know that the girls, at least, are a little old for handwriting as a subject, but we've got some penmanship issues that need attention, so we are giving A Reason for Handwriting a try. The first weeks' writing looks good, but I'm interested to see some of that nice work cross over into their everyday writing.

Since we knew that we were not going to be involved in a co-op this year, I wanted to make it a priority to cover a couple of subjects each week that would bless their hearts and keep school fun for them, namely music and art. Since we don't have a violin or piano at our new place, we'll be covering more composers. I've designed some sheets with boxes to record names, dates, feelings about the piece and interesting facts about the composer. That might sound kind of boring, but it's not when you listen to the kid-friendly versions of pieces on the Beethoven's Wig CDs. If you haven't listened to one of these CDs yet, you really must. You may even be able to find one at your library - our old library in Abingdon had at least the first 4 volumes!
For Art, we're going to do a variety of things. One week we'll look at a painter and some of his works, another week, we'll work on specific drawing techniques (we'll be using the Making Art Fun website for this one, as this mama can barely draw a straight line with a ruler). We'll also be doing some fun doodling and building an art journal. It must be said that although I'm not generally much into art, I am looking forward to doing art with the kids this year. I even did some of my own drawing with them this week!

That's it, for the most part. We'll be making time for weekly trips to the Y, visiting my favorite kids' typing website now and then, and I'm thinking about having Abigail take the Red Cross' online babysitting class. It's a tall order, and things rarely go as planned, but I'm excited for the school year ahead and all that we'll be learning. Together.

Visiting Reptiles

A few weeks ago, a pair of box turtles wandered across my kids' path. What an opportunity to learn something about these handsome creatures!

 Our main interest was in figuring out if we were looking at a "he" or a "she". Wikihow helped us out...

For most box turtles, males have red or orange irises, and the ladies have brown or yellow.

 

 Males tend to have a concave underside, whereas females have a convex shell (presumably a spot in which to safely carry their eggs).

There were a few more helpful determiners, but these few were enough to get us going.

As it happens, we realized we had both a male and a female, and the fact that they were found together probably meant that they were a "couple".

We named them (Fluffy and Speeder, I believe) and turned them loose to make many more baby turtles. Hopefully the next family who lives here will enjoy them, too!

Crayon Candles

One of the ideas on our Summer of Fun board was to make some candles out of sun-melted crayons. As it happens, being a stinking hot summer and all, the sun and accompanying heat was happy to work with us.

 The original idea is here, but I made a couple of adjustments. Rather than mixing lots of different colors, we kept like colors together (for the most part) and put them in baby food jars. Rather than getting proper candle wicking, we went with the suggestion to simply put a birthday cake candle in the middle, which worked just as well.

Each of the kids had fun making one, and it was worth it to me to get rid of some junky old crayons. Getting them to sit there peeling the paper off kept them busy, too.
We had them at the table for dinner and the kids enjoyed having the candles "race" - they don't burn especially well, so it was a competition to see who's would stay lit the longest.
For us, it was a fun afternoon activity when it's too hot to go out. If you wanted to, you could make it a cool solar energy/color combining activity, as well. It was too hot for me to be clever about it, though!

Some lovely links

Prioritizing the mending pile - I never really thought about this, but it's really just another kind of organizing. I like organizing!

Life expectancy a century ago - just a really interesting article...

For the homeschoolers - this encouragement came along at just the right time for me.

Decorating a rented house - there are some great ideas here!

Takin' the toys! - we haven't gotten to this point, but there is something rather attractive in the idea...

Racial profiling - I was appalled. Then, I wondered how I would have behaved...

Peach season!

It's been about 3 years since I've posted my recipe for Crock Pot Peach Jam, and interestingly, it proves to be one of my most looked at posts (according in a google search). Since the peach season is wonderfully upon us, I thought it would be helpful to repost:

 

Fresh Peach Jam

(from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook)



You'll need:

About 2 pounds slightly underripe peaches (7 to 8 large)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

One 1.75 or 2 ounce box powdered pectin (optional)

3 to 4 cups sugar, to taste

1. Peel the peaches by dipping them into a pan of boiling water to loosen the skin, then immediately cool them by holding under cold water. The skins will slip off. Remove the pits. In a large bowl, coarsely crush by hand with a potato masher or pulse a few times in a food processor; you'll have about 5 cups of pulp. combine the peaches and lemon juice in the slow cooker; sprinkle with the pectin, if using (I didn't bother). Let stand for 20 to 30 minutes.

2. Stir in the sugar. Cover and cook on LOW for 2 1/2 hours, stirring twice.

3. Remove the lid, turn the cooker to HIGH, and cook 2 to 3 hours longer, until the jam achieves the desired consistency. Ladle the warm jam in to clean glass jars & let stand until cool.

To sterilize your jars, either run the jars and lids through the dishwasher or wash in hot, soapy water and heat in a coolish oven (about 300F) for 10 min.

 

Mine is in the crock pot as I write. However, I've got loads more peaches to deal with, thanks to a half bushel purchase yesterday. So, here are a few other peach-y (ba dum bum) ideas:

 

• Peach Frozen Yogurt
• Peach Smoothie
• Peach Crumb Bars
• Peach Lemonade
• Chicken with Peaches

Some completed projects

Small amounts of yarn and quick projects is where I'm at, at the moment...

 

Malabrigo Mitts, with Malabrigo Worsted in Orchid.

 Simple Ribbed Cowl in Cascade 128 Superwash

The Rikke Hat is currently in process. The Mochi Plus by Crystal Palace is a lovely, soft variegated that's going to looks so good on my head. When it's cold enough, that is.

The Intouchables

I heard of this French movie a few months ago, surfing through trailers. As soon as I saw the trailer, I started keeping an eye out for the DVD. Just last week, Toby found it at the library.

The Intouchables is this fabulous story of a wealthy quadriplegic and his thoroughly unqualified and street-rough care-giver. Though not billed as a comedy, we laughed all the way through, mainly at the larger-than-life ex-con carer (Omar Sy). The rich invalid guy was familiar - we'd seen him in the French version of Harlan Coben's Tell No One, which was also excellent.

Though I always love stories of unlikely friends, I will confess that the language is a bit rough in places (though it doesn't seem so bad when it's in French!). If you're put off by having to read subtitles, you may not have the patience to keep with it, either. It's not long before you forget that you're reading, though, and the fact that it's based on a true story (which we didn't realize at first) is a bonus.

So if you're looking for something a little bit different, see if you can get it at your local library. We may not be Siskel and Ebert, but Toby and Kelly give it two thumbs up!

The Orchid Cowl

A simple pattern with lovely soft yarn.

 It makes the knitting such a pleasure, as does the knowledge that you're using up just a little more yarn in your closet.

Details on my ravelry page.

Spring CousCous Salad

When it's dark and cold, I'm all about warm meals, especially for lunch. But when it's light at 5:30am (ask me how I know) and just looking at the kitchen makes me over heat, I love me some salad. But a green salad gets boring after a while...
I found this recipe on Pinterest and have made (and eaten) it plenty. It's fast, it's yummy, it's healthy, and probably my favorite part - since it's got asparagus, my kids aren't interested. Win!

Spring Couscous Salad

Ingredients

• 1 cup Israeli couscous (if you can't find it, regular couscous works fine)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 3 pieces of bacon
• 1/2 cup fresh English peas
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Combine the olive oil and couscous in a large skillet over medium high heat. Toast the couscous until just golden brown and then add the chicken stock. Stir occasionally and let cook until all the liquid is gone. Transfer the cooked couscous to a bowl and set aside.
2. Place another skillet over medium heat. Add the strips of bacon and cook until crisp on both sides. Remove bacon from the skillet and add the trimmed asparagus. Saute for 4-5 minutes and season with salt and pepper as needed. Add the asparagus to the cooked couscous.
3. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the peas and blanch for about 3 minutes. Drain the peas and shock them in an ice bath. Add peas to the couscous mixture.
4. Toss together the couscous and vegetables with the lemon juice and zest. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if desired. Also, feel free to add a teaspoon or so of the bacon drippings if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature. I've also kept some in the fridge to eat later in the week - it's still good cold, but the flavors are a bit more muted, so 30 seconds in the microwave help kick up the flavor.

Just remember - bacon makes everything better.

Nom nom.

Not your average date night

A while back, I was scrolling through the Groupon offers for our area when I came across one for archery. I don't know much about bows and arrows, beyond what I did in my high school gym class more than 15 years ago, but it looked like fun. Toby thought so, too, because when I asked if he'd be interested, he excitedly responded, "Book it!"

The guys at Deer Creek Archery in Churchville were nice and gave us a quick tutorial on how to use the equipment and some basic safety measures, then let us get on with things.

You're shooting at various targets and foam animals in a large, indoor range. Our beginners' bows only reach about 25 yards, but the range is possibly double that size.

 

We would totally go back again, though going through a Groupon offer is the cheapest way to go, unless you have your own equipment. So, if you're looking for something fun beyond the dinner-and-a-movie option, this might be worth a visit.

And I just want to say for the record: I think it says a lot about a marriage if you can go out for the evening, play with deadly weapons, and still come home smiling.

Summer School 2013

We've now wrapped up much of our normal school year. Math will take some time to finish and there are grades to be calculated, but overall, we're done.

That said, we've learned through experience that several weeks of unstructured time really isn't good for us. We need a break, but we also need some guidelines.

So, for the past few summers, our family has observed a lighter, alternative form of school for the summer.

A "Summer School", if you will.

This year, I've been aware of the need to work more on their memory skills - times tables, verses, etc. - so we are going to spend a little time each morning working on some of those things. There is also some reading to do that we didn't get to in the year, plus the dreaded math to continue with, which will happen in the afternoon.

The plan (as it currently stands) is to observe something called Circle Time:

• We will work on memory verses, using Desiring God's Fighter Verses app
• We'll then move to working on catechism questions using this book. I've printed out almost 150 questions and answers for us to look at each morning. We may not get through them all, and if not, that's okay. Likewise, this isn't our first time with this book, so the first few chapters should be review for the older kids.
• Read alouds had begun to fall by the wayside, so we'll pick that up during this time - a mix of both picture books for the littles and more involved chapter books for the big'uns.
• We'll finish by working on math facts (for Noah) and times tables memorization for the big girls. We'll do oral review, timed drills, games on my phone and Kindle.

Overall, I'm thinking this should take about an hour. That's all - an hour after chores and the rest of the morning is theirs. Then another 30 or so minutes in the afternoon. If this little experiment is a success, I may make Circle Time part of our year round homeschool schedule.

That's the plan. Plans are, obviously, apt to change - if we're ready to hit the beach for the day, no way am I taking the math books along! But I am excited to give it a try and see how it serves us.

What are your plans for your kids this summer?

Cookie Dough Dip

For the last minute pot luck, the summer barbecue that you've had no time to prepare something for, or just for something to munch on in front of a movie, may I humbly suggest some Cookie Dough Dip with pretzels or graham crackers? It'll add no heat to your kitchen, though I make no promise about the calories to your diet...

8 oz cream cheese
half a cup of butter
1 cup powdered (icing) sugar
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips/candy bar pieces, etc.
1 cup toffee pieces (could always use another cup of choc chips)

I've only served this with the pretzels or graham crackers, but would be interested to see how it works with fruit or some other dipping option.

Enjoy, however you have it!

iCream!

In an effort to be sure I'm using my Pinboards to be a useful and productive individual, and not a mindless window shopper of clever ideas that I will never use, I made some of this eye cream a couple weeks ago. You know what? It's not half bad!

Photo from ramblingsofahappyhomemaker.blogspot.com

 

I won't say I look 10 years younger or the dark circles under my eyes have magically disappeared, but the cream was cheap (I already had everything, so it was more like a freebie) and easy to make, and it does feel good.

I suspect I'm reaching an age where these sorts of products are helpful in their preventative nature, so stop back in 20 years and tell me how great my under-eye skin looks, okay? That would be so helpful. :)

Parmesan Chicken Bake

It's been a while since I've shared some recipes, so here is one I've made several times. It's easy, it's very delicious, and it makes leftovers - all get top marks in my book.
I found the recipe, as I've found most of my favorite recipes, on Pinterest. The blog it came from, My Kitchen Escapades, has a load of other yummy recipes. I shall share the recipe here for your enjoyment:

Parmesan Chicken Bake(adapted from Food.com)
6 chicken breasts (or one large pack)
1 C light mayonnaise or Greek yogurt
1/2 c fresh Parmesan cheese, plus more for the top
1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray the inside of a 9x13 glass pan.  Lay the chicken inside the pan.
2.  Mix together the remaining ingredients and spread evenly over each piece of chicken, being sure to cover all the exposed raw meat (so it doesn't dry out.)  Sprinkle on a bit more fresh Parmesan over all the chicken.
3.  Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. 

And there you have it. We've been enjoying it recently with baked sweet potatoes and a salad. All the flavors go so well together!

A "Chair Lift"

I can't call it a "face lift", since chairs don't have faces (do they?), but it's not actually a chair lift in the strictest sense. Whatever, you get the idea - I redecorated my sewing chair!

Using this site as a jumping off point (I had this pinned for ages!), I found some upholstery fabric in my closet (actually, our curtains from our house in Birmingham), stretched a piece over the seat and stapled underneath without removing the old cover. Then, I unscrewed the back, stretched and staple down the fabric again. On the back, however, there's a gap between what the fabric and where the screws go in. I cut one more square and covered the gap under where the screws fasten by using some spray adhesive on both the chair and the fabric. Worked like a charm. Reattach back to chair and we were back in business. 
In keeping with my "near-instant gratification" requirements for almost all crafts, this little project took about 20 minutes, mainly because I was looking for the right screwdriver.
And in less than one episode of Little Einsteins, my work room is a little more "me". Which make me happy.