Our House in the Middle of Our Street

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...

photocredit 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...

"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! * In other news, my Little Bug is 2 today! Check out babymast for birthday (soup) pictures! :)

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!

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!...

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

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...

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...

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' nex...

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 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!

photocredit 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 slllll...