Long Holiday Weekend

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I found this picture quite perfect for Independence Day this year.
Diligently working mending a country with our resourcefulness and the talents that come with our best tool, our hands.
Where a content and optimistic attitude will overcome economic hard times and an overconsumptive mentality: use what you have been given, and use it well.
Happy 4th, readers.

Sabattical

I have been doing things. LOTS of things. A sampling:
*knit a pair of newborn leggies for a friend
*sewed up napkins/table runner for a wedding present (see below)
*dogs(at?) two OTHER dogs (on top of my two) for 2 weeks. Sheesh. 3 days left.
*had a birthday weekend for the Bug
*flipped lady over zillions of times during night--
(she wants to sleep on her tummy but isn't quite comfy yet.Ugh)
*knit up 1/2 of Bug's Xmas Sweater
*made many many foodstuffs. Too many. Want to go out to dinner!
*split up skirmishes between said 4 dogs.
*cleaned up lots of potty training messes.
*cleaned lots of shirts that had spit-up on them.

*cleaned up lots of dog poop.

Yup, I've officially got rings under my eyes and my last fibrous "patience" nerve has all but snapped.

And not to mention...I'm hot. It's hot.I hate heat and humidity. Nebraska is always sooooooo hot! I'm hot!~

I've been a bit of a Crabby Patty lately, I'll be back when I've mellowed out.

In Review: Revolutionary Road

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Review: Revolutionary Road starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio

This movie is...a lot of things. First, I should mention it won Kate W. a Golden Globe for Best Actress and was nominated for G.G. Best Director and Best Picture. Not to mention 5 nominations for Academy Awards--an impressive list to say the least.

This movie was absolutely stunning. Aesthetically, it had everything. Great costume, wonderful cinematography, and a very interesting story. It had a beautiful dialogue, which, while not PG rated at times (most), I don't find a lot of movies I want to 'listen to' nowadays. There was poetry in what these characters had to say, and I loved listening to these two people talk, even if they were fighting a lot. Not to mention, an excellent cast, Kathy Bates played a minor role, and to me Leonardo DiCaprio just gets better, along with one of my favorite actresses, Kate Winslet.

This movie, however, will make you squirm. It is a story set in the 1950's where no one talks about problems, you mind your own business, and you do as you're told, sweeping things under the rug.
This movie is about the human condition of depravity, what it means to be honest in a relationship, and to truly live as a man (or woman) in a way that is glorifying. People, I gleaned so much from this movie, hubs and I were talking about it for days! There are several hard issues in the movie, adultery, lunacy, abortion to name a few, but this is a good investment of two hours.
I didn't even read the back of this movie when I picked it up from the library, I just noticed two great actors and added it to my pile, and I'm so glad I did. At a solid 5 out of 5 stars, I will be owning this movie. Go see it already!

Update: A friend of mine wrote a review of this movie that I think is really well done. It differs from my opinion, but he has great reviews! Read it HERE.

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Stay tuned for my next movie review, Doubt, which was also nominated for 5 Academy Awards.

Father Bear: Father's Day Special

"How about some birthday soup, Father Bear?" asked Little Bear....
and so goes the conversation towards the end of the night at our household.

One of hub's favorite books to read to Bug before bed is The Adventures of Little Bear, a collection of 4 stories by Else Holmelund Minarik, and illustrated by Maurice Sendak (of famous Where the Wild Things Are) where the Mother Bear and Little Bear have matter-of-fact coversations about life. I now know there is a Father Bear book, that I will promptly be ordering on amazon for my two guys to read together.

"Father Bear", said Little Bear, "I love you".
"I love you, too, Little Bear", said Father Bear.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there!
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In other news, my Little Bug is 2 today! Check out babymast for birthday (soup) pictures! :)

How To: Garden Update

Remember this post about gardening with a toddler? Well, while I've been a Complaining Cathy over here because of the Nebraska heat, my little Roma's have been loving all the sunshine. These were taken a week ago! Now they are almost as big as a regular roma, they just have yet to turn color!
I actually grew something! Or...rather Bug did!

How To: Easy and Frugal Baby Gifts

One of my favorite crafts to do when I was little, and still do today, is embroidery. This craft enables the creator to do something simple or exquisite, and since I love to dress plain things up just a little bit, this is a great way to go about it! A few tools one will need are:
*an embroidery pattern or pencil (if getting pattern, one also needs an iron to iron it on)
*A pair of scissors
*An embroidery hoop, needle (also called Crewel), and some colored Floss
*whatever object you'd like to embroider on (shown here are plain gerber onesies)
These can be a simple gift to a pregnant co-worker, a far away expecting friend, or a set for an in-the-family mother.

Trace or iron-on your transfer, set the embroidery hoop tightly around your picture (NOT both sides! Just one side or you'll stitch them together!), thread your needle and cut a long piece. Knot the end, and go through the object from the inside to the out. Follow these simple directions (from the folks at Threadbanger!) and you'll be set to just 'trace' along your picture with the needle! It may take some practice, but this is one of the easiest and cheapest hobbies around!

Enjoy the simple and beautiful outcome! (Made for two expectant (and new) knitting mamas)

These are for my little Peanut Lady! I love unicorns, and rainbows, and there is no better place to get awesome iron-on transfers than Sublime Stitching!! I LOVE all their designs!

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Check out my last finished knit: Baby Legwarmers over at BabyMast

Review: River Cottage Family Cookbook

In Review: River Cottage Family Cookbook by Fizz Carr and Simon Wheeler

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The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Fizz Carr and Simon Wheeler was a book I had long ago read about on others' blogs, and I had always wanted to check it out. I do most of my 'checking out' at the library or Barnes and Noble until I decide if it's worth the money to buy over amazon. I couldn't get this book at our local libraries, and I kept forgetting to check to see if B&N had it every Wednesday for my knitting group, so I just decided to put it on InterLibraryLoan and request it from another library in the midwest.

This cookbook is a very beautiful cookbook filled with pictures of all types of things--kids doing happy dances when their cooking turns out right, gardens and their yields; even a few pictures of a 'step' in a recipe. The paper is matte, which I love, and the colors are magnificent. The book also has interesting 'essays' (more like little summaries) of the histories of certain types of food and where they were originally found. Add a few simple things like a recipe on how to make your own butter, and one would think they have it all!

The two authors are British, and so there are even recipes for things like Jellies. This isn't what comes in a small jar in the peanut butter isle, but something that resembles a 50's green, wobbly, "let's take this over to the new neighbors" jello mold jellies. Weird. I don't think I've seen one of those in my life. Ever! Surprising, but true.

I didn't keep this cookbook very long in my possession, though, because to tell you the truth, I didn't like it all that much. There were a lot of things I already knew how to do, or were in other cookbooks *minus the jellies, of course*, and I found the format frustrating for a cookbook.

As a photography book, I loved it, but as a cookbook? Well, it just didn't speak to me. Maybe I am set in my "HERE are the recipes: clear, concise, and in a row" type of way, or maybe the jellies turned me off. All I know is that it wasn't for me. I'm glad I checked it out on Interlibrary Loan and got to see some beautiful eye candy (and what an actual jelly looks likes...ok. OK! Enough with the jellies! I know!) but it will never be a go-to book that I would keep in my cupboard.

How To: A Fun Gift for a Toddler: Montessori Placemat

I love the world of flickr. In fact, although I don't currently upload pictures to it, I can just stare at craft photos and artsy photos all day long, gleaning inspiration that could grow its own flowers. Alas, I only have about an hour per day on the internet, during naptime, if nothing else needs to be done. So instead of flickr, I check my blogroll, and look at some of my favorite bloggers' current craft projects.
One of my favorites whom I linked to awhile ago, Sew Liberated (formerly Montessori By Hand) is a member of this Montessori flickr group, and from it I am always finding things I want to make the kids. The homemade items are practical and beautifully made, and seemingly simple, too. This Montessori Placemat struck me as a perfect gift idea for a friend's baby turning 1. Within about an hour, from start to finish, I sewed it up, and I made enough cut-outs for a placemat for the Bug, too (hoping it will be done for his 2nd birthday, next Sunday!)
I wanted it to look a bit older than "baby", so I jazzed up the placemat with actual traced cut-outs of a knife, spoon, and fork (child sized) and picked some printed fabric instead of embroidering it. I ironed on some adhesive to the back, cut them out, stuck them on, and went over them on the sewing machine to make sure they wouldn't fall off in the wash. I sewed up the back and sides and it was finished. For presentation, I rolled it up and tied a matching piece of fabric around it with a bow before sending it off in the mail (I couldn't make it to the party) Hope she likes it!
A fun, and simple project (especially for a speed-demon like me--I'm impatient when I sew), this is a useful gift for toddler through young elementary age!

How To: Make Your Own Kettle Cooked Chips

One of my all time favorite snacks are salty potato chips, my favorite being brands like this, where it's nothing but potato and sea salt. YUM! I've always thought that potato chips would be easy to make, I had just never done it before. With my Reader's Digest Homemade book in hand, it didn't take long to find a recipe for it. Here is the recipe in summary:
*pour veg. oil or shortening in a large pot until it reaches about 2 in. high
*heat oil to 375 degrees (we don't have a thermometer, so we just turned it to med/high
*slice potatoes to 1/8 in. thick (I think Russet works best)
*place small batches of potato in fryer/pot to avoid affecting temp. of the oil. Fry until crisp or golden (3-5 min)
*Use slotted spoon to transfer chips to paper towels to drain.
*lightly sprinkle with salt.

Here's what I would modify after following this recipe:
*I would recommend oil, we used shortening, and it stank up our house like a McDonalds for over 2 days. Not pleasant, and I didn't want to do that again!
* slice smaller than 1/8 of an inch. I recommend using a veggie peeler to slice super thin, this gives the chips much more of an authentic, crunchy taste. Hubs sliced them pretty thick, and although some tasted just like real chips, most of them needed ketchup because they were more like french fries--with a soft inside.
*If you slice thinner, be aware they cook much faster than 3 min! I would expect 30-45 sec. per batch.
*Enjoy! We weren't able to eat all of the chips we made, in fact, if slicing thin, I only recommend doing 1-2 potatoes at a time--we did 3 or 4 and even with thick strips it was way to much!

How To: Pick Your Own

This week my mom took Bug, Peanut Lady, and I out to Roca Berry Farm, in Roca, Nebraska, for some yummy strawberry picking right off the vine. Roca Berry is one of the few places surrounding Lancaster county where you can pick your own berries, and their main attraction is the kid-friendly Halloween set-up they have every September-October. Since strawberry picking only lasts about 2 weeks around here, we had to hurry up and get them while they lasted. They literally are some of the best berries around. Bug and Hubs don't really like strawberries, and they both lovvvvvvvvvved these!

Grandma helps Bug figure out where they are (hiding under the plants, low to the ground) and how to check for bug-bitten strawbs.

Our beautiful yield. Delicious! In fact, I don't even think any of these will make it to a jam-jar, they are SOO good just how they are! Here's the little Picker carrying the basket.
If you are a local, hurry and go within the next few days, or wait til' next year. If you are looking for a farm where you and your family can pick your own fruits or veggies, check out the website PickYourOwn. Filter by state, and you will be shocked at all the farms in your area, I sure was!

Giveaway at Progressive Pioneer

I know I am kind of always plugging for giveaways, but they are always amazing over at Progressive Pioneer. This blog post earns me another chance to win a 'topless' undershirt from Blush. Before you ask me if that ever works, let me tell you, I just won her last giveaway! The sponsor was from Quiet Hour toys and included are a set of embroidered birds, Camden Rose building sticks, and finger puppets! How cute! I can't wait to get them in the mail and let the Bug go at it!

Go ahead and enter her giveaway from Blush! Don't forget to check out their website, too, it's really cute.

Our House Special: For Sale!

Our House is up for sale! After 6 months off the market for the holiday season and then babymoon, it is back on the market. Our listing is via craigslist, and we've made a blog to show off over 60+ pictures of Our House. I also added a link to the top left-hand corner of the blog for easy access! Here's wishin'!
Spacious 3-bedroom, 2 story house with original woodwork throughout and beautiful colors creating a calm and serene atmosphere. Check out the blog and pass it on!

Quiet, Please!!

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Sorry for the silence around here, but there is good reason. These first 3 weeks of June are a bit hectic for us, as we've been visiting a lot of family; gearing up to see some friends we haven't seen in years (!), about 4 appointments, a close family member's wedding (moving a few blocks away, Yay!!!), and a little Bug that is turning 2!

Phew! I'm tired just thinking about it!
I have lots of home-made items including new cooking trials, sewn items for wedding and babies, some book reviews, and a few birthday presents to share. They are just sitting on my hard-drive, waiting for their turn of glory on the blog.

In the meantime, enjoy some linky love I rounded up just for you!

Save Used Books... (and toys, clothing, shoes, etc....) !

Check out my knitting friend Julie's blog. Tutorials on how to recycle just about anything.

The most inspiring blog to me this year . Ok, this one too. Ok. Gotta stop.

Still reading The China Study and yes, we are slllllllowly becoming vegetarian, although aiming for vegan. Seriously. Read it. You won't be disappointed.

Wish I could take pictures like her. Wish I could sew like her!

Want to be her when I grow up. Ok, so maybe just the horses part, not the cows part!

Love this motto: "I'm taking over the world and making it cuuuuuuuute!" Her dreams are coming true!

My own plug: Know anyone in the market for a beautiful 2-story house? Original wood throughout with beautiful color palette :) Yes, Our House is up for sale again!


Hope you enjoyed the "Brain Candy" as a friend of mine likes to say! and see you soon.....

How To: Fun on a Dime in Lincoln, NE

Before it gets too humid in Lincoln, a great way to have a fun family night is at Holmes Lake ( roughly 60th and Normal)

Here Lu and Dad are flingin' algae (no, I'm not kidding!) I think they were scaring a group of ducks that were right around the corner, honking at them.

Lu throws a stick in the water in typical boyhood fashion. I am walking far away from algae splashes with Anikka!

Sleeping baby in the sling and beautiful weather made for a nice night. When she gets a bit older and can be on my back, I am planning on making this one, from Sew Liberated.

We packed a picnic dinner (grapes, PB&J, water, hard-boiled eggs and some chips). Although it sounds like a simple & plain meal, it is so fun enjoying the outdoors with a picnic! We are lucky enough to have a covered porch and eat outside as often as we can, but being by the water and listening to all the outside noises is truly peaceful! Don't forget your home-made bug spray!
Hop on over to BabyMast blog for some kiddo updates.

Giveaway: Progressive Pioneer

Hey All,

I am posting an entry to win (count that, FIVE entries!) some cloth diapers from Progressive Pioneer's giveaway. I love this Salt Lake City Mama's blog, and she has had some amazing giveaways in the past! If you check out the left side of my blog, her button is perpetually there!

Hop on over to win some cloth diapers from Maine Cloth Diaper Company!

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Movie Review: The Secret Life of Bees

Movie Review: The Secret Life of Bees, based on the story by Sue Monk Kidd

I first read this story about a year after it had come out. I was working at Barnes and Noble and had seen the book on the Bestsellers End-Cap for a long time and had never given it a second glance until a customer who bought it from me was telling me it was one of the most touching stories about love she had ever read. So, without much prodding after that, I picked it up, and loved it.
When I heard a movie version was coming out, I was thrilled, and although I knew I wouldn't make it to the movies, I saved it for myself on Netflix. Let me prelude by saying that I loved all the actresses in this movie (and actors, too, although it is mostly about women) and had seen them in other roles that I liked, and had won them Oscars.
Queen Latifa, Alicia Keys (!), Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, and Sophie Okonedo all did a spectacular job, and by the end of the movie, each one holds a lot of respect in the viewers' eyes. The story is about a little girl who is very lonely and lives with a secret that makes her feel unlovable. She desperately tries to find out about her mother (who died when she was 4 years old), by running away from home and finding a house that matches the picture in the precious few items she has of her mother's left. She stays with the three sisters, August, June, and May ("our mother loved summertime") and throughout the story finds more than just about her history, she finds the motherly love she has been longing for.
I really liked this story because there is nothing genuinely awful in it. That sounds strange, but I hate movies with unnecessary violence, bad dialogue/acting, and lots of sex and gore. This was a family film, but had many redemptive qualities. There is some adult issues including civil rights issues and depression, but a teenager would really like this movie, and it would be beneficial to watch at that age. Any age below would probably not enjoy or understand a lot of it.

This movie even got Stefan's approval because all of the characters were so respectable and genuine, a must for him.

4.5 out of 5 stars, even the soundtrack was awesome! Definitely see this movie!


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Review: We Took to the Woods by Louise Dickinson Rich

Book Review: We Took To the Woods by Louise Dickinson Rich

"There is nothing that I so admire as purposefulness. I have an enormous respect for people who know exactly what they are doing and where they are going. Such people are compact and integrated. They have clear edges. They give an impression of invulnerability and balance, and I wish that I were one of them" (Rich, 13).

I first heard of this book via Soulemama's blog (yes, I even love her taste in literature, let alone crafts) and thought it looked like an interesting read. I checked it out at the library, and got the first version, printed in 1942. This book was a fascinating read, light-hearted and easy to understand, and somehow, a peaceful read, too, which was just what I was looking for.

This is a memoir of sorts about the author whose family up and left the "Outside" for a more simple life deep in the backwoods of Maine. With no running water, heat from a wood-burning stove, and only a few sets of lumberjack-type clothes, she describes why the busyness of her hands and the beauty of the land are far more important to her than hearing the latest Hollywood gossip, and wearing the latest fashions. Dickinson Rich has a great sense of humor, and I even found myself putting my grandmother's voice to hers, laughing out loud at some of the experiences of living in the woods, including rambunctious fishing tales, working with her husband every day for 4 years straight, and keeping a skunk as a pet. The book is only 300-some pages, and is very much a mixture of essay and nature writing. A good book for the enviornmentalist or a handmade pledger.

4 out of 5 stars, and perhaps a spot on in my permanant library.

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How To: DIY Sand/Water Table

How To: Build A Sand/Water Table for Under $30!
Sorry this took me so long to blog, but I had to have a tool list and full instructions before I could do so.
A little history on my love for the sand/water table. I love the idea behind tools for tiny hands, i.e. the Montessori Method, and like to have Lukka 'figure things out for himself', even when he is playing. I try to have the most simple and basic toys available for 3 reasons: a) simple toys generally have less parts, which means less of a hassle for me
b) simple toys inspire way more creativity and imagination than do 'exact replica' toys
c) they are much more aesthetically pleasing to look at, therefore, not making every nook and cranny of our house an eyesore!
I know the last reason is just for me, but it's true. Plastic things don't generally last 1/2 as long as wooden or fabric toys, and they are unattractive. For this reason, I started to look for a wooden sand/water table as opposed to a plastic one and all I could find were ones for hundreds of dollars, although beautiful! Keep reading for pictures and complete directions.
Disclaimer: If you aren't good with a hammer and saw, pass this project on to someone who is, I drew out the plans for my husband, but he was the one who went to work on it and finished it. This may just have to go to the Honey-Do list!
*The Final Product*

Lukka exploring the sand/water table for the first time...he loves it!

Little hands explore texture of sand, and tools used for digging and scooping--toddler favorites!

We keep the sand bucket filled up at all times and the water tub empty so he can transfer sand. If he would rather play with water, we cover the sand tub and fill the empty with water.

Tool List:
Sharpie Marker
2 LIDDED tubs, child-size appropriate
hammer
skill-saw
1 8-foot 4X4
2 8-foot 2X4
1 24inch (") X 32 inch (") plywood (1/2 " thick)
.25 lb box of 8-penny nails
.25 lb box of 16-penny nails
(these both normally come in 1 lb boxes, but you'll only need to use 1/4 of the box of each, OR you can use what you have at home!)

Cutting:
Cut 4X4 into 2 ft segments (you will have 4 of these and they are the legs)
cut 2 2-foot 2X4
cut 2 17" 2X4(width of table--base box)
cut 2 25" 2X4(length of table--base box)
cut 2 35" 2X4(length of table)

Directions:
On top of plywood, trace around the tubs with the sharpie, making sure you are tracing the BODY of the tub, not the lid-the tub will sit perfectly inside the table while the rim of the tub 'holds' it in place. See our last picture)
Cut out 2 shaped squares with skill saw.
Take 17" and 25" 2X4s and nail them flush with the posts (4X4s), creating an 'topless' table. Flush means they do not go above the posts, but are completely level with them.
Nail plywood (with shapes cut out!) onto the top, creating a flat table.
Take remaining boards and nail them to the side of the table, making sure they are sitting 1 & 3/4 inches above plywood, creating a ridge (so the sand can't escape easily!).
Insert tubs into "holes" on the table top, leaving one empty for water, filling the other with sand.
Enjoy with the tools of your choosing!

All of these tools (assuming you have a hammer and a skill saw) cost under $30, including the tools we found in the $1 section of Super Target! Have fun for less!
*Note*
Our table top is gray because of a laminate we had, it was originally used as a home-made desk in an office, but we found a way to recycle it and it works perfect. This is a great option if you're worried about slivers against plywood. The laminate can be found at a hardware store like Home Depot.

Review: Boomerang! Audio Downloads

Review: Boomerang! Audio Downloads
"If television is chewing gum for the eyes, Boomerang! is granola for the ears. ... Sound wonderful? It is, it is."- The Washington Post
(taken from website)

This is a truly unique kids program that is reminiscent of the good ole' days when families used to sit by the radios to listen to their favorite characters over the waves. I first heard of Boomerang! from This Vintage Chica's online children's' nature journal, The Magnifying Glass (two separate blogs, she has a few more, too! The M. Glass is co-hosted by Blue Yonder ;did I mention I have a thing for craft/homeschooling blogs?:) They were having a giveaway to celebrate the new blog and one of the prizes was a few "episodes" of Boomerang! audio, with the winners choosing any versions they would like to own. Well, me being me, I signed up with my favorite idea of an episode to win one for free, and what do you know? The owner contacted me asking if I'd like an episode free of charge, and would I please review it for my blog?
Why of course I would!
The audio clips are one-hour programs that have a number of different segments in them, each with different voices (of children of course!) to boot, including jokes, current events, and perhaps a biography or two. My episode that I chose was about Moral Courage and Henry Ford. They wove Ford's story about being the auto-maker for the everyman, while having the courage to stand up for what is right. Going along with moral courage there was also a story about a new kid at school and what two characters could have done to make him feel more welcome. Also included was a 'mystery', again similar to an old style radio show! I really had a lot of fun listening to this, and thought it was an ingenious idea! I am so glad I got to review it.

This program, though, is a little out of my kids' range. It is for 6-12 year olds, and my oldest isn't even two, nor would he understand what's going on until he is much older, however, I sure had fun listening to it! Another thing, is it is slightly out of my budget. Per issue it is $7.95 for just the audio download (then you can burn it to a CD or keep it on your computer forever) or $10.95 for a CD copy every month. For someone who doesn't spend more than $30/month on entertainment (Internet excluded) this is just way out of our price range. In the future, though, this is something I can see Lukka really enjoying and may think about investing in it. It reminds me quite a bit of a mix of Reading Rainbow and Little Orphan Annie. Too good to be true! Go check our their awesome website and their huge back-log of episodes. You can also listen to certain segments HERE.
4 outta 5 stars for originality and quality!

How To: Plant a Garden With A Toddler

Warning: Adorable pictures of the Bug disguised as a "how -to" follow:

First, make sure you have a decent-sized plot of land, topsoil, wanted plants, and a spade! (The one thing we have been missing, the stinkin' spade!) We recommend The Claw, also. Give your toddler ample time to play with all the aforementioned necessities, making sure they don't step all over one of your tomatoes.......

Toddlers love to 'help' with adult jobs. Make sure you account for double the amount of time it would take you to do something if they are going to help. Water in their own watering can makes them feel special. We got a cheap-y from the $1 section at Target, but I love these tools from this site, and am thinking about getting some for his birthday in June. 

Make sure you catch a shot of the toddler up-close, especially right after a big fall that they are just recovering from...teary eyed and mad. They will appreciate it later in life that you took the time to show them how to garden and water plants. They may or may not appriciate later in life the fact that you yelled when they stepped all over said tomato plant....

Finally: look good in your jeans...er...sweatpants :)
*I have been known to have a bit of a 'black' thumb, even killing bamboo in my time! However, this year, the Bug is old enough to be very interested in all that we do, especially chores. It is my intention to show him where food comes from and I think that he will enjoy this practical side of life. Planting, nurturing, picking, and eating. This is where education starts. Enjoy the beautiful spring!

PS-Stay tuned this week for a review on Boomerang! audio downloads and a "How-To: Make a Sand/Water Table".