Roosters-N-Rickrack Pinafore GIVEAWAY!!!!
Yeah yeah, another one. I told you about my thing with giveaways right? I am working on not entering when I'm not interested in the offered item but, this is another one I'd love to win. Seriously, go, look, I won't even begrudge you entering yourself.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Most eligible six year old
This is him, the heart throb of the three to six year old set in the neighborhood. Cute huh? yeah, you're not the only one who thinks so. Let's call him Dream Boy for blogging purposes.
Here's the story. A while back, my kids and I had dinner at Dream Boy's house. When it came time to leave, Baby Girl and Dream Boy were sitting next to one another at the counter. I was the only adult in the room for a moment. I had my back to them and what do you think I saw when I turned around? You guesses it! He was kissing her! (on the cheek, we're talking about a 5 year old and a 2 year old here) Then and there I decided they should get married when they grow up.
I have a history of betrothing unsuspecting people to one another, so far, none the betrothed have been very cooperative. They just keep marrying other people, jerks. Still,I always hold out hope that one day, one of my couples will really get married, or at the very least, go on a date. You never know, this might be the time!
I told The Mr. about the kissing and he thought it was a hoot. He continues to tease Baby Girl about Dream Boy whenever he thinks of it. It's never very rewarding for him though because Baby Girl remains completely unaware of her own romance. Some little girls know about "boyfriends" and that sort of thing, (more on that in a minute) but my girl is not one of them.
When The Mr tries to tease he get's no reaction from her. "Is Dream Boy your Boyfriend?" He'll ask her. "Well, yeah" she says. Of course he is! He's her friend, he's a boy, doesn't that make him her boy-friend? "Are you going to marry Dream Boy when you grow up?" asks the Mr. "Pop," says Baby Girl with an air of scorn "I'm just a little Girl" and by the time He repeats the part about how she'll be grown up when the marriage occurs, she's moved on and is giving out assignments for who will play which wonder pet as we use team work to sit together on the sofa. Maybe she's a natural at deflecting tormentors, and really does have a soft spot for Dream Boy, I'd like to think that was true, but it's more likely that she is as I said, oblivious.
Now, remember Bestest? She's one of those little girls who know about boyfriends. Bestest Has a brother who is the same age as Dream Boy and occasionally goes to his house to play.
One time, Bestest went along to pick up her big brother, caught sight of Dream Boy and it was all over for her. She was a smitten kitten. Then And there she named Dream Boy her future and she's held fast to that sentiment for around five months now. That's a really long time for a four year old. Just yesterday she drew a picture of the two of them holding hands.
Word on the street is, there are others like her. Can you imaging the number of calls from giggling girls that boy's family is going to have to endure?
Friday, June 27, 2008
Strawberry Quart Caplet with Simple Sailing Frock
Strawberry Quart Caplet with Simple Sailing Frock
Grosgrain, a new favorite of mine is having a give-away! That's what this post is all about. I love me a give away. I enter every one I happen upon, even if I don't want the thing being given away. This time though, I would really love to have it so don't go over there and enter yourselves because then I'll be less likely to win!
Do go over and look though, Kathleen makes lovely little clothes.
Grosgrain, a new favorite of mine is having a give-away! That's what this post is all about. I love me a give away. I enter every one I happen upon, even if I don't want the thing being given away. This time though, I would really love to have it so don't go over there and enter yourselves because then I'll be less likely to win!
Do go over and look though, Kathleen makes lovely little clothes.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Once there was a blankie
The blankie started out like any other, a quilt made for an expected baby girl. That baby girl was my sister in law. She used it but it was never a particular favorite. Then that baby girl got the shock of her life, a baby brother.
She was so appalled by the proceeding that when her daddy took her to pick out a present for the new baby she insisted upon buying him a dress, which he wore, occasionally, on laundry days.
After a while she became accustomed to the little havoc-wreaker, and somehow he came into possession of the blankie.
He was much more grateful for it than he had been for the dress. In fact, I think he would count it as one of the top ten best gifts he's ever been given.
He loved it like every blankie dreams of being loved. He wore it around the house as a loin cloth when no one else was home. He wrapped it around his fist as he fell asleep every night and, eventually he grew up.
Soon, he had a Baby Girl of his own. She got loads and piles of blankies as gifts when she was born and she used them for the first eight or nine months of her life. Then something awful happened. It got dead stinking hot outside.
The Baby Girl's house was air conditioned, but the summer nights were still rather warm to be spent snuggled under a thick fluffy blankie and every load and pile of the loads and piles of blankies she'd received were thick and fluffy.
Fortunately her pop had just the thing. Out came that beloved old rag (it really had seen better days) and for the Baby Girl it was love at first snuggle.
She had a little stuffed duckie that she had been rather fond of but the duck was chucked and the blankie reigned supreme.
The Pop and the Mama were a little concerned over their lovely daughter choosing for her love a quilt who's quilting was already unquilted in areas and who had patches so thread bare the holey state of it's batting could clearly be seen. Would the blankie last through the child's attachment to it? They worried.
Three years later the blankie looked like this.
The answer was no, the blankie hadn't out lasted the Baby Girl's attachment.
She loved is as much , or possibly more, than ever.
She especially liked to pinch it's fraying binding. Often she would hand a corner to one of her parent's and offer to let them have a pinch. She was a generous little mite.
Finally, it came to a point when the majority of the binding was hanging off, getting stuck on things and posing a strangulation hazard. Chunks of batting could be found strewn about the house where they fell as the Baby Girl drug the old, white (it had been yellow at the beginning) blankie behind her. Something had to be done, and the mama did it.
She cut an elephant out of a corner of the blankie where the original quilting remained. Then she pieced together enough of the other still-quilted portions to use as batting for the front of a pillow sham. The elephant with a tail of blankie binding for the Baby Girl's pinching pleasure, along with a few peanuts, for the elephant's nibbling pleasure, adorned the sham.
And the girl liked it! She gave it a snuggle.
She pinched the tail.
And that night she curled up with it and went right to sleep.
She was so appalled by the proceeding that when her daddy took her to pick out a present for the new baby she insisted upon buying him a dress, which he wore, occasionally, on laundry days.
After a while she became accustomed to the little havoc-wreaker, and somehow he came into possession of the blankie.
He was much more grateful for it than he had been for the dress. In fact, I think he would count it as one of the top ten best gifts he's ever been given.
He loved it like every blankie dreams of being loved. He wore it around the house as a loin cloth when no one else was home. He wrapped it around his fist as he fell asleep every night and, eventually he grew up.
Soon, he had a Baby Girl of his own. She got loads and piles of blankies as gifts when she was born and she used them for the first eight or nine months of her life. Then something awful happened. It got dead stinking hot outside.
The Baby Girl's house was air conditioned, but the summer nights were still rather warm to be spent snuggled under a thick fluffy blankie and every load and pile of the loads and piles of blankies she'd received were thick and fluffy.
Fortunately her pop had just the thing. Out came that beloved old rag (it really had seen better days) and for the Baby Girl it was love at first snuggle.
She had a little stuffed duckie that she had been rather fond of but the duck was chucked and the blankie reigned supreme.
The Pop and the Mama were a little concerned over their lovely daughter choosing for her love a quilt who's quilting was already unquilted in areas and who had patches so thread bare the holey state of it's batting could clearly be seen. Would the blankie last through the child's attachment to it? They worried.
Three years later the blankie looked like this.
The answer was no, the blankie hadn't out lasted the Baby Girl's attachment.
She loved is as much , or possibly more, than ever.
She especially liked to pinch it's fraying binding. Often she would hand a corner to one of her parent's and offer to let them have a pinch. She was a generous little mite.
Finally, it came to a point when the majority of the binding was hanging off, getting stuck on things and posing a strangulation hazard. Chunks of batting could be found strewn about the house where they fell as the Baby Girl drug the old, white (it had been yellow at the beginning) blankie behind her. Something had to be done, and the mama did it.
She cut an elephant out of a corner of the blankie where the original quilting remained. Then she pieced together enough of the other still-quilted portions to use as batting for the front of a pillow sham. The elephant with a tail of blankie binding for the Baby Girl's pinching pleasure, along with a few peanuts, for the elephant's nibbling pleasure, adorned the sham.
And the girl liked it! She gave it a snuggle.
She pinched the tail.
And that night she curled up with it and went right to sleep.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Nachos according to Eva
One day, a few years back I was hankering after some nachos. Not just cheese on chips melted in the microwave but Nachos with a capital "N". The problem was I had no carne asada or beef of any kind for that matter, but nachos I had to have and so, out of necessity, the Nachos were born. Now, I share the recipe with you fortunate souls.
Ingredients
- 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Liberal amounts of garlic powder, chili powder, cumin and cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper
- a big pile of grated cheese, Gouda is our recent favorite though a combination of cheddar and mozzarella is also divine
- bag of corn chips
- chopped green onion and cilantro
- 1 small bag frozen corn
Sorry I can't be more specific about amounts of stuff that's just not the way I cook. Use as much of whatever as you think looks good, as long as you like it you did it right.
Ok, start out by rinsing the chicken and patting it dry. Then put it in a ziplock, laying flat and pound the heck out of it. I like it about half an inch thick, get it as even as you can. You could layer it between two pieces of plastic wrap or wax paper or what ever you like to use for such proceedings but I find that the bag is the best way to avoid chicken splatters all over the kitchen and I am all about that so I use a bag.
When your chicken is good and flat take it out and toss on some salt and pepper. Then, pour on garlic powder, chili powder and cumin. Really lay it on there, you want every bit covered. I'm a bit daintier with the cayenne; I use just a moderate sprinkle of that but if you're a big cayenne fan use a little more. Here's mine, caked with seasoning and ready for the grill
I give it four-ish minutes on each side. It won't take long when it's pounded thin. I turn off the grill at this point but we're gonna use it again to melt the cheese.
I lay the chips out on a jelly roll pan while the chicken is cooking. I've been doing half a pan lately because we'll eat the whole thing if I make it and then we spent the rest of the evening moaning and clutching our exploding bellies.
Here's the chicken ready to come off the grill.
Now, chop it into bite size pieces and spread it evenly over the chips, follow the chicken with bunches and bunches of cheese and get the whole thing back on the grill, the residual heat does a superb job of melting the cheese. You want to get the pan back on the grill quick though so you don't loose too much heat. Last time I made these I took my time getting the chicken and cheese spread evenly over the chips and the grill cooled so much it took a long time to do the melting. Here it is tucked in nice and cozy to get all gooey and delicious.
While the cheese is doing it's thing on the grill be sure your frozen corn is cooked and chop the green onion and cilantro.
Once the cheese is melted to your satisfaction, distribute the corn, onions and cilantro over the whole thing. Now, for us it's all done, we put the pan in the middle of the table and go to town.
You may like sour cream or salsa or guac with your nachos so feel free to add what ever you think sounds good. I was wishing I'd thought to quarter some grape tomatoes and sprinkle them over my share of the nacho-goodness last night but I wasn't willing to stop eating long enough to do it.
So there you have it, the best part of this recipe? the only thing you have to cook inside your house is the corn. Actually, I think I'll use the burner on my grill next time, I love a dinner I can cook without heating up the house!
snap out of it
It's been an awesome morning. Baby Girl woke up, I don't know the reason, at some horribly early hour. The Mr. helped her deal with what ever it was that woke her (bad dream? had to pee? I don't know) then he let her sleep in our bed. I woke up a bit when the two of them climbed in, that was the first I knew of her sleep troubles.
When The Mr got up he scooted her over by me so I could snuggle her in his absence. That was ok for a minute or two but then she started talking to me and tickling my nose with the frayed edge of her beloved blankie, then she wanted me to read her a book. She sat there beside me as I slept, if I moved or happened to let my eyes flutter open for a split second she'd thrust the book into my face and ask me to read it. Eventually we got up.
We did our morning thing, eat breakfast, empty the dishwasher, she sits on the toilet for thirty minutes or so waiting for me to wipe her bum. When she finally asks for help I tell her to wipe it herself and assume she has done so because she's not asking for help anymore but I learn later the she's still just sitting there, waiting.
Anyway what it comes down to is that after she'd been up stairs for almost an hour she still hadn't managed to put on her swim suit. then my dog, after coming in from his morning ramble in the back yard, pooped on the floor as I was standing not 5 feet away brushing my teeth. So I cleaned that up and sent a raging email to the Mr about my intolerance for dog crap, then baby Girl had a little melt down when I told her she couldn't bring her floatie to swim lessons, all of which contributed to our tardyness.
We came home and there was more whining and anti-cooperation until finally I shut Tiny (who's been a perfect angel all morning blessedly) in the bedroom where he's blissfully scooting books of the book shelf and sitting on his sister's bed, some of his favorite activities, and I put Baby Girl in the tub and told her she had to play for a while (she didn't want to, of course) and now I am here. Trying to get control of myself. Ignoring the faint knocking at the bedroom door where my Tiny, it seems, has grown tired of scooting books and sitting on the bed.
This clump of run-on and scentence fragments that I'm trying to pass off for a post likely makes little sense to anyone but myself. In fact, I'll probably look it over a few hours from now and find myself completely confused by it. Over and out.
P.S. I forgot the part when Baby Girl asked for a second bowl of cereal then when she finished it she said "Mom my tummy hurts why did you give me so much cereal?" all accusatory like. That made me feel super.
When The Mr got up he scooted her over by me so I could snuggle her in his absence. That was ok for a minute or two but then she started talking to me and tickling my nose with the frayed edge of her beloved blankie, then she wanted me to read her a book. She sat there beside me as I slept, if I moved or happened to let my eyes flutter open for a split second she'd thrust the book into my face and ask me to read it. Eventually we got up.
We did our morning thing, eat breakfast, empty the dishwasher, she sits on the toilet for thirty minutes or so waiting for me to wipe her bum. When she finally asks for help I tell her to wipe it herself and assume she has done so because she's not asking for help anymore but I learn later the she's still just sitting there, waiting.
Anyway what it comes down to is that after she'd been up stairs for almost an hour she still hadn't managed to put on her swim suit. then my dog, after coming in from his morning ramble in the back yard, pooped on the floor as I was standing not 5 feet away brushing my teeth. So I cleaned that up and sent a raging email to the Mr about my intolerance for dog crap, then baby Girl had a little melt down when I told her she couldn't bring her floatie to swim lessons, all of which contributed to our tardyness.
We came home and there was more whining and anti-cooperation until finally I shut Tiny (who's been a perfect angel all morning blessedly) in the bedroom where he's blissfully scooting books of the book shelf and sitting on his sister's bed, some of his favorite activities, and I put Baby Girl in the tub and told her she had to play for a while (she didn't want to, of course) and now I am here. Trying to get control of myself. Ignoring the faint knocking at the bedroom door where my Tiny, it seems, has grown tired of scooting books and sitting on the bed.
This clump of run-on and scentence fragments that I'm trying to pass off for a post likely makes little sense to anyone but myself. In fact, I'll probably look it over a few hours from now and find myself completely confused by it. Over and out.
P.S. I forgot the part when Baby Girl asked for a second bowl of cereal then when she finished it she said "Mom my tummy hurts why did you give me so much cereal?" all accusatory like. That made me feel super.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Introductions
This is Melanie.
This is Melanie's favorite outfit. It is the favorite because it's good for running around and getting dirty but since it's a dress, not pants, she can do all that and still look like a lady.
Melanie likes this dress because it is all dotty to match her face. Mel is very proud of her freckles, she just wishes she had some on her arms. Then she'd never get bored in school because if the teacher started talking about something dull she could just inch up her sleeve and play "connect the dots". Melanie once had a friend with just two freckles, she thought that was a waste of two perfectly good freckles because the only picture they could make when you connected them was a worm and just a worm gets kind of dull.
Melanie is helping my friend Mary to raise money for an insulin pump that will make her daughter's life much easier and not nearly so full of shots. If you'd like Melanie to come and stay at your house, email me uniquety@gmail.com
Mel is entirely hand made by me with soft cotton skin, warm wool stuffing, and mohair hair. She is 11 inches tall and ready to party, all for the bargain price of $65.00.
I took the advice from the comments yesterday and painted the freckles. I think that was definitely the best way to go. Thanks Amy and Melissa!
Did y'all notice I never whined about clothes this time? I'm pretty proud of myself about that. I made the clothes first this time. It was a little tricky making sure I ended up with a doll that fit them but it was worth it.
Usually I stand in front of the closet that holds my fabric stash with my eyes glassed over, moaning. It's very similar to the way I stand in front of the refrigerator trying to come up with something to cook for dinner when I'm not even hungry.
This time I walked right into the fabric closet, snatched up some fabric and had a finished project within the hour. No moaning, no glassy eyes, no teensy rejected halves of dresses littering the floor,it was awesome. The way making doll clothes should be.
This is Melanie's favorite outfit. It is the favorite because it's good for running around and getting dirty but since it's a dress, not pants, she can do all that and still look like a lady.
Melanie likes this dress because it is all dotty to match her face. Mel is very proud of her freckles, she just wishes she had some on her arms. Then she'd never get bored in school because if the teacher started talking about something dull she could just inch up her sleeve and play "connect the dots". Melanie once had a friend with just two freckles, she thought that was a waste of two perfectly good freckles because the only picture they could make when you connected them was a worm and just a worm gets kind of dull.
Melanie is helping my friend Mary to raise money for an insulin pump that will make her daughter's life much easier and not nearly so full of shots. If you'd like Melanie to come and stay at your house, email me uniquety@gmail.com
Mel is entirely hand made by me with soft cotton skin, warm wool stuffing, and mohair hair. She is 11 inches tall and ready to party, all for the bargain price of $65.00.
I took the advice from the comments yesterday and painted the freckles. I think that was definitely the best way to go. Thanks Amy and Melissa!
Did y'all notice I never whined about clothes this time? I'm pretty proud of myself about that. I made the clothes first this time. It was a little tricky making sure I ended up with a doll that fit them but it was worth it.
Usually I stand in front of the closet that holds my fabric stash with my eyes glassed over, moaning. It's very similar to the way I stand in front of the refrigerator trying to come up with something to cook for dinner when I'm not even hungry.
This time I walked right into the fabric closet, snatched up some fabric and had a finished project within the hour. No moaning, no glassy eyes, no teensy rejected halves of dresses littering the floor,it was awesome. The way making doll clothes should be.
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