Ponyo Dinner!

HAM!!

My kids love the movie Ponyo! It's like the Japanese version of The Little Mermaid, and I have to admit, I love it too. The illustrations are so fun, and the characters are so cute! 

To have a little fun I decided to try to recreate the Japanese soup from the movie, and have a Ponyo Dinner; the kids were so excited!

 To be totally honest, the broth left a lot to be desired, but the rest of it was pretty good. The kids ate it up!

 We will have to try it again later, it's always fun to throw new recipes in to the rotation. Maybe next time we will actually use HAM!! ;)

 Nom, Nom!

Garage Saling, or How To Clean Legos

One of my favorite hobbies is garage saling (Google said to spell it that way), because I am able to find so many goodies for my family at a fraction of the price that I could buy them -if I could buy them at all. We live in a military area that happens to be wonderful for garage saling, so I am lucky for that. I estimate that it saves us close to $2000 a year on clothes, toys, and household goods.

Every other Saturday at 6am I drag my poor friend out of bed (she really does have a good time after I feed her a little coffee.), and we head out on our treasure/scavenger hunt. I even have a "shopping" list of things to look for, and we usually find them. The only catch is that most of the time I get the goodies home and they need a thorough cleaning before I will let my little ones touch them. With clothes it's pretty easy, and Clorox wipes are awesome for the big stuff and books, but sometimes I have to get creative to clean things like, say, Legos.

 So here is my solution for cleaning a big box full of ridiculously-little plastic toys: 

• First, get a laundry bag like the one pictured below, that has a very small netting, no holes, and a tight closure at the top. 
• Next pour all the little pieces in the bag, close it tight, and put it in the washing machine. 
• Set the washer to the quick-wash with hot water, detergent, and bleach; and let the Legos wash as if they were an old towel. Speaking of, if you want to cut back some of the noise you can add a few towels to the wash -it is very loud and you would probably not want to do this while the baby is sleeping, husband is home, pope is visiting, etc. 
• When the wash is finished put the bag of Legos in the dryer and set it to a quick-dry on medium heat. Let it run for as long as you can stand it -it is very noisy, see above for tips on that. 
• When the dryer is done the Legos can be poured out onto a towel to dry further; and if you got these from a garage sale, this is also a good time to pick out all the non-Lego pieces that you really didn't want to pick out before they were cleaned.
• Done! Now you can give them to your kids and not be completely grossed out later when you find them in your baby's mouth.

Laundry bag with draw-string closure; zipper would be even better.

Babyhood...

Going,

Going,

Gone!

 It's official, he is a toddler now. Our little guy started walking about two weeks after his birthday. He looks so cute on those shaky little legs! I was so glad Dh was home that month, so he didn't have to miss it.

He has started imitating things like trying to brush his hair, color with a pen, eat with a spoon, etc; and his temper is fully developed now. If we take something away, or are not fast enough with his food, he will throw the most awful fit; but usually a distraction or a quick reprimand is all he needs, and he is right back to being a sweetheart. Then he will start to babbles in a sweet, gentle little voice as if he is telling me all about it; it just charms me every time!

Lavender Eye Pillows

Yikes! It's been so long since I've posted anything creative, and I do still create, even when I am really busy. So here is something I finished up a while ago, but am just now getting around to sharing: Lavender Eye Pillows!

 I made ten of these darling little pillows to include in Thank-You gift bags which were given to the board members of our local MOMS Club. 

 I started by making a basic patten out of paper. The top is straight and the bottom is notched in so it lays across the nose comfortably. I cut my pillows out about 1/2 inch smaller then the "pillow cases". 

I had these perfect-size white cotton rectangles in my fabric stash (that were from another project I have long since forgotten about), so I ended up altering my original design and going with straight sides, but rounded side are very pretty too.

The filling station.

 I decided to make my pillows with little removable "pillow cases" so that the moms could wash it if needed. (This was a suggestion from my sister who said her son put hers outside in the dirt, and it just didn't smell as nice after that...) I stitched up the three sides, leaving the small side open for filling, and filled it half full of rice. Then I added 2 tsp of lavender, and pinned the side closed. I tested this all along the way to check the comfort, that it was big enough to block out the light, not too heavy on the eyes, and that the scent was not too strong.

Three of my pillow cases ready to be sewn.

 I sewed the sides of the pillows closed (not shown), and then started on the cases by putting the two sides of my cases right sides together and folding down 1/2 inch on one end and ironing it down to create a hem. I then unpinned the hem end and stitched the hem on the front and back pieces separately. I repinned them together (right sides together still) and sewed all the way around leaving the hemmed side open for the pillow to slide in.

No hand sewing needed!

A fancier closure could have been put on the cases (zipper, button, velcro, ribbon), however I liked the simplicity of these and just left mine open like little pillow cases.

Ready to sooth some tired mommas!

 I put a pillow in each case and finished them of with a pretty bow and tag.

To warm put in the microwave for 20 seconds.

 To use just lay back, place it over your eyes, and breath deep.

 Try to relax.

 Think happy thoughts...

and try not to laugh too much.

Thanks go to:

My beautiful model, Immy. 

A friend from the MOMS Club who donated her beautiful quilting scraps for the covers, and

My darling husband who helped me pick the lavender in CA.

The only part of this I had to buy was the rice, so each pillow cost me around .50 cents to make! 

Thank you!

Little book worm

Immy learned to read this past school year, and she has not stopped since. 

It has become a regular scene this summer to see her lounging around with her eyes intently on her book. 

I love it.

 She has been very interested in "chapter books", and says she is too old for baby books. I got her some at garage sales, and my mother gave me all the American Girl Books that I read when I was little. She has blown through them, sometimes reading two AG books a day.

Take a picture of me too!

When we read at bed time does not come over to listen anymore, she prefers to read her own book. I don't mind too much, it's good for her and the little ones. Now I can read more of the books JP and Lulu enjoy to hear.

Liony is also her constant companion. There's a little bit of my "little girl" left in there.

So pretty!

 

July 2011 Highlights

I have been keeping up with everyday life and not getting to my computer as much as I'd like, but I figure that's ok; everything has a season, and posting is on a back burner right now. This month has been busy. My Grandmother died on July 2nd, that was difficult and quickly followed by the funeral, visits from family, DH returning home, birthday parties, and the disappointing news that DH was not selected by the Reserves. Life goes on, though not exactly as we had planned. Right now we are working on plans for the future, and deciding whether or not we should move back to California. Nothing is set yet, but I'm sure it will all work it's self out soon. Here are a few highlights from our busy month.

Immy's actual birthday

The birthday was a really big deal this year. I had kind of forgotten what it's like to be SO excited about your birthday coming. She had a whole list of things she wanted to do for her day. I usually don't indulge the birthday wants too much, reminding my kids that the party is coming; however, it had been a hard week for all of us and a fun distraction was just what we all needed. First on the list was "Going shopping at the mall". (Is she that old already??) She had birthday money burning a hole in her pocket, so we went to The Children's Place to buy shoes and trinkets. Then she wanted to ride a big bouncing ride we had seen at the mall once before, but it was gone so I suggested the merry-go-round. She was thrilled with the substitute, and even more happy that her brothers and sister could ride it with her.

 I had to stand with Lulu, so even PT got to ride.

 Smiles all around.

 After the mall Immy wanted to go to Pizza Hut, but we switched that out with Wendy's eaten in the car. (Close enough.) Then we did a surprise stop at Dairy Queen. Each of the kids got to pick their treat, and I shared my favorite, an Oreo Blizzard, with PT. We tend to draw a bit of attention wherever we go, and this was no exception. Immy ate hers carefully like a big girl, but JP got his all over his face -on purpose. This was met with loads of giggles and encouragement from the girls. PT was pretty clean, because I fed him, but he kept turning around to give irresistible baby smiles to the ladies behind us. And Lulu was doing more talking than eating so she had to share her drippy cone with PT before it turned into a puddle. They had fun, and so did I; mission accomplished. 

Sweets for my sweeties

Here I am after a night out with the ladies. I am related to all of these fine ladies, and lucky for it too. We were all in town to say our good-byes to my grandmother, an amazing lady herself. After a week of expecting her to pass at any moment, we stole away for a little time to catch up. She actually passed away while we were out, and we quietly ended the evening. It was a strange mix of emotions, and bitter sweet to get "the call" while we were all together. She waited to pass on until the last grandchild had shown up to say good-bye; well, almost, the last one was actually in Germany and could not make it back. But all the others made it, 57 total -I think, I rarely stop to count, but there's a lot of us. It certainly isn't the only thing she contributed, but it's a fine way to leave, having given so much love to so many people. 

The party!

We had a lovely party for Immy at the splash park, and we were able to invite all her school friends that we could hunt down. The hard thing about having your birthday during the summer. But she has so many non-school friends it's nice not to have to invite the whole class. 

I'm meeelting, meeeeelting..

 It was a cooker of a day, most of us parent were eyeing the water, wishing we could run through it too. The kids had a blast, and we were able to do the cake and presents just in time before a thunder storm hit and sent our guests scattering.

Big smiles from the birthday girl!

Who is this toddler, and where did my baby go??

 I snuck out of bed a little early one morning, and when I turned around to tuck the baby in I nearly gasped! Did he get that big over night!?
   

 Another day at the beach.

The storms had churned up a lot of seaweed, and it was everywhere. Yuck. It was inconvenient to me and we left early, but I always feel bad for the people who had to drive a really long way to get here. They don't have the option to just come back another day, and it really is so much more fun when the water is clear.  

AAAAHHH, there's seaweed on me

 I took Immy in for a chop. Her long hair was beautiful, but a lot for her to manage. Unfortunately I took her to a kids salon and got a pretty poor hair cut. I don't know why, but I never seem to get a good cut from the cutesie kids places.

She is so cute though!

Best kept secret in Solvang!

We found this sweet little thrift shop while we were in Solvang. Most things in town are a bit pricey, but at this shop and the custard stand next door you can walk away happy for just a few dollars. If you find yourself in Solvang be sure to stop by!

A thrift shop with just fabric and sewing notions.

ALL fabric .99 cents a yard!

look at those prices!

You pay for the Thrift Shop goods at the custard shop next door.

All the food and treats are $1 to $2 at Custard's Last Stand.

Look for Custard's Last Stand and Buttons 'N Bows on First Street, in Hans Christian Andersen Square!