All snuggied up

My mom also brought me some wonderfully soft Patons Divine in pink. It's not hard to guess who that will end up on. There's really only one person in this family that loves and adores pink.

Since we walk to school (1/2 mile each way), I wanted to find/make something for her that would help ward off the semi-cold morning temperatures that we get in Arizona. It may not get that cold here, but my daughter likes to dress for summer in the middle of winter. Life with her involves lots of compromises. A snuggie/slanket/sleeved blanket was one of those. So while I'm still going to have to fight with her about the appropriateness of skirts verses pants when it's cold outside, I can keep her somewhat warm regardless. And I won't have to worry about her blanket hanging out of the stroller and dragging on the ground. I won't have to keep pulling the blanket around her to keep her warm. Best of all, she loves it.

Five Baby Animals

A year ago, I started these cute little baby animals with big feet and a tiny body. I had great plans for them. Then something happened -life most likely- and I never typed up the pattern or finished the other little critters that I had planned to make. So after we moved and I found the little guys and some hubby added some encouragement, I finally got back to it. It's sad that it was so closed to being finished for so long. Now I can finally present my little baby animals.

I think the turtle is my favorite.

A little kitty.

An elephant.

A little bunny.

I also love the mouse.

The pattern for these little guys is now available to purchase at Em’s Emporium at etsy.com!

Still alive... and crocheting!

My mom (who was wonderful enough to come help us move in) brought me some yarn. Pink, variegated purple, and this -a thin chenille. There was a big cone of it, but having never used it, I wasn't sure how far it would go.

So I started a scarf. I tried a few fun patterns, but didn't like how they looked and ended up doing a sc, ch 1, sc throughout.

There was more on the cone than I expected. The scarf just kept getting wider and wider. It would make a great wrap/shawl or (since it scrunches well) it could just be a wide and very warm scarf. You know, for all those cold winter days that we don't have in Arizona. Maybe I should have put more thought into this project before letting it get out of hand. Still, I like it. It's soft and has great drape to it.

In the process of moving...

We're in the process of moving, so I've been going through stuff that I haven't looked at for years. I know. If I haven't even seen it in the past two years, I probably should get rid of it. I am trying to prove to my husband that I'm not a pack rat, but there are some things that just shouldn't be thrown out.

When we were teenagers, my sister and I didn't always get along. I'm sure it frustrated my mom. I feel the same when my kids don't get along. So, one time, Mom made us list ten things we liked about each other. This is what my sister wrote.

How can you not like someone that likes you because you're "clean," "get to drive," and "don't smell that bad." Pretty endearing. That's how my husband and I got together. He didn't smell too bad plus he could drive. That equaled our first date.

For my future scuba diver...

My 6 year old wants to be a scuba diver when he grows up. He also wants to write books about the fish he sees. This week, his kindergarten class was learning about the ocean. I thought it would be fun to dress him in something related. Unfortunately, he's grown out of all his fish shirts. So, like the caring, crafty mom that I sometimes pretend I am, I made this:

It needs something else in the middle. My scuba diver (who doesn't like to put his head all the way under the water) wants me to add a pink octopus. This is the same kid that wouldn't wear the blue jacket I bought him because it had a tiny pink stripe on it.

Amish Friendship Bread

A friend from church brought me some delicious bread that she had made using Amish friendship bread starter. She offered me the recipe and some starter of my own, which I immediately requested. My family loved the bread. In fact, we fought over the last piece. About ten days later, I received my very own starter in a gallon sized ziplock and a page of instructions.

The best part was the handwritten note about the apple pie filling. She doubled the starter, eliminated the oil and added a small can of apple pie filling. That made me curious about other variations that we could try in the future. I googled "Amish Friendship Bread" and was amazed with all the recipes and advice I found. My favorite was a blog entry that explained how to keep up the starter without ending up with extra starter every ten days. It's nice to have extra to share with friends, but how many friends does one person really have?

I made it through the ten days of caring for my starter. It was like having a new pet (although hubby compared it to a baby). I played with it every day and let the air out whenever it accumulated (which hubby compared to burping a baby). And then our little baby's due date arrived. My husband was as excited as I was and helped turn our baby into bread.

Arm Chair World has a ton of recipe variations, if you're interested. It makes it hard to pick what to make next. I think hubby said something about chocolate. If you can't get a hold of a friend giving away starter, you can make your own, just google "Amish friendship bread starter recipe."

Beets

Growing up I think I ate beets just once at an all-you-can-eat buffet. My mom didn't like them so we never had them. Spinach was the same way. My mom only knew one way to cook it and she didn't like it like that so she never made it. Some of you are already thinking that I really lucked out as a child. Don't worry as a picky eater, I was extremely grateful. However, I married a man that likes both spinach and beets. Crazy, I know.

So, I sent him into a farmers' market by himself knowing that he would probably have way too much fun. And I was right. He came out with plenty of fun fruits and vegetables and a bag of beets. He was really excited that he got beets. I wasn't so much, but I try to be supportive so instead of commenting on his choice, I asked him if he knew how to cook beets. He claimed to know how. Guess who wasn't home when it was time to cook the beets, not that he would have been all that helpful since I later found out that he didn't really know that much about cooking beets.

I panicked a little and pulled out my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook which I love. Apparently beets take a while to cook. I should have looked that up before I left it to the last minute. I ended up peeling, slicing, and then steaming them. Next time I think I'll start much earlier so that I don't have to peel and slice a raw beet. Have you ever tried it? They're tough to peel and cut, not to mention the color bleeds all over the place. It's a mess.

In the end they turned out just fine (fine for a beet, that is). They were a little late getting on the table, but my cute beet-loving hubby liked them. My vegetable lover wouldn't try them, but my picky eater thought they were okay, although he refused to eat more than a tiny taste.

Craftiness

In case you wonder where my love of crafts comes from, it's inherited. My mom often had projects going on while I was growing up. Mostly sewing, but she also knits and crochets and will pick up other random crafts just to try them out.

Despite a 16 hour drive between us, my mom and I still manage to connect fairly often. OK, we talk a lot. It's weird to have a full week go by and not have talked with Mom. In addition to catching up on life in general, we share our current craft projects and browse the web together. Yes, we check out craft sites while talking on the phone together.

I thought I'd share one of my mom's recent projects. When my daughter turned three, Nana gave her a tea set complete with a quilted picnic blanket and a family of rabbits to have tea with. The rabbits match the quilt, which didn't make it into the picture. It turned out really cute and my daughter was thrilled with it all. So thanks, Mom.

Valentine's Day

I realize that Valentine's Day was a couple months ago. I just never posted this and I want to because it's such a cute (and easy) pattern. I made two to go with the stuffed animals that we gave our kids for Valentine's Day. My kids are constantly turning shoe boxes into beds for their stuffed animals and then go in search of blankets and pillows to make them comfortable. I hoped that these hearts would make good pillows for any future animal beds.

The pattern is from Owlisyly and can be found here. And check out her Etsy store too.