Fresh Herbs and Dish Towels

We are having company over this weekend. I went grocery shopping for all the ingredients needed for a very nice lunch, that included fresh dill and parsley. I recently read somewhere to put your fresh herbs in a vase with water instead of the fridge, it will make them last longer and make a great smelling center piece. The smell is so fresh and rustic. I love it!

I have also been very busy making dish towels. They are not finished all the way yet, still need a backing and trim. Maybe I will finish them tonight and have them in my shop soon. But right now I am going to get the kids up from nap and spend sometime outdoors in this beautiful weather.

Daddy's Day

Keeping a secret in the house is like trying to walk with your shoes on the wrong feet, you can do it but it's really uncomfortable and near impossible to do for long. I having been thinking about Father's Day all week and deciding how to celebrate. My first thought was to have the kids do a craft project for Rob but then the thought of puffs of glitter in the air, kids eating glue, and all out war of a certain color crayon didn't sound like much fun. Thinking of Rob, and knowing how to get to his heart, we made him a cheesecake.

Damien helped stir the crust. He proudly told Aries that he was first to help me because he was the first baby, and that she would be next because she was second. He wanted to make this the BEST CRUST EVER! So he stirred and stirred and stirred and ... Stirred, until his hand got a cramp and he was exhausted, out of breath from  making the BEST CRUST EVER! (No drama in this house at all)

Aries helped make the second part because well she is the second baby ( Damien would say Duh?! at this part). She was so excited she had to put on her ballerina costume and dance first, before pouring the milk. I asked if she wanted to help me with the mixer but she said NO! That it was scary and didn't want it to splash on her tutu. She did pose for several pictures and kept wrapping herself around my legs. I think she was the most excited to tell Rob about this secret because several times I had to tell her that dad was sleeping and when he got up for work he would see it. 

And how did Odyn help? By eating a beater from the mixer of course. He watched the whole time and studied every move. Someday, when he is 6 or 7, Rob and I will wake to a gourmet breakfast created by him. 

When Rob woke up the kids had just gone to bed. Aries heard him and screamed "CHEESECAKE DAD!" (I told you secrets are not kept long in this house) She was so excited she had to make sure that he knew it was waiting for him in the fridge. 

I hope the best dad in the world thinks the cheesecake has the BEST CRUST EVER, is as excited as a ballerina to eat it, and knows that we all love him very much.  

Change.....

My poor garden has been so neglected this year. This year I said "oh what's the point ... we are just moving in August". I thought for sure that my plants would suffocate and drown under the pressure from the weeds, much like our spirits about moving. Our original plan was to stay put for four years and maybe buy the place we are living in now. That was out of our control as our lease is up in August and our landlord is deciding to sell. Covered in weeds of negative thoughts, like my poor plants, Rob and I thought the worse. What if we need to change towns and uproot the kids from the first school they have ever gone to? How are we ever going to find another place that is within our budget?

As this spring has gone on I noticed my plants reaching out for sun and stretching out their leaves. Rob and I began to worry less about our move. My mom and her husband Eric own a two family down the street and we decided to move in there (literally one house down from where we are now). Things started to look brighter. I could start to picture the kids outside playing, my garden, what colors to paint, how to decorate, and our future in our small town. Moving the weeds out of our way we were stretching our thoughts on other things.

Now that it is summer, the plants in my garden have begun to flower. I think my daisies are the tallest they have ever been, forgetting that the weeds are all around them. My Iceland poppies have bloomed three times already, and just when I think that is the last flower for the season, another one blooms. The clematis vine that I buy every year and wonder "how do people make these grow?" has wrapped it self right up and out of the weeds around the small wrought iron trellis in the garden. I too have lifted myself out of the weeds, looking for a dishwasher (SO needed with five people in one house), picking out my paint colors, waiting to get a peek inside, drawing floor plans, thinking and planning the move, and getting the shovel ready to dig up my plants. The flowers in my garden taught me something, that even when you feel like your being suffocated you have a choice. You can either look up to the sky or let the weeds keep you down.

Coming up short..cake!!!!

Yup it's strawberry shortcake! 

There is nothing like homemade strawberry shortcake. I use Bisquick for my shortcakes, but I always need to mix it up, sometimes adding vanilla extract or cinnamon (like I did this time). No Ready Whip from a can for me! Oh no .. I break out the mixer and take cream, add a little sugar, vanilla extract and whip it into great peaks of whipped cream. It tastes less plastic or waxy this way.

The kids know exactly what I am doing every time those beaters come out. I always get the Whatcha makin' mom? I always give the kids a beater .. now that there are 3 ..well a spoon gets dipped in for someone. Damien likes strawberry shortcake minus the strawberries and none of that cinnamon powder on his whip cream. Aries will eat strawberries with the cream, forget the shortcake it fills you up too fast, it won't leave room for all those strawberries. Odyn will just dive right in, wanting everything. He is happy and content to get everything down his shirt, in his diaper, and on his head.. maybe some gets in his mouth?!
My family was nice enough to leave me the last shortcake, just enough strawberries, and I can always whip up more whip cream.What a nice thing to come home from work to.

What are you makin'?

Can you guess?

Getting hot - glued that is

So while Odyn was taking a nap today I thought I might want to get something, anything, done that I wanted to do. I set up a small, and I mean small, space in the living room while Aries and Damien were watching a movie. Noticed I said they "were" watching a movie. I love how my kids know the exact time frame to ask questions, want a drink, an ice cream, start bickering, anything that involves me stopping right in the middle of something that I can't really stop doing.

Apparently the hot glue gun was what interested them. Damien told me that at his school his teacher has 2 of them and he was not allowed to touch them EVER! While this long very fascinating story about 2 hot glue guns was going on and on Aries snuck around the back of me, did I notice? Yes of course.. after all I was dealing with tacks and hot glue, I knew the temptation would be too much for them. Aries sat next to me and informed me "just want to watch", so I let her. I did tell her that if she touched the sitting next to me would be over.

After making the 3rd or 4th cute fabric thumb tack the newness wore off and I was left in peace. The movie became interesting again, the occasional "Aries stop that!" or " Damien mine!" was heard, but it was successful. I completed all the cute fabric thumb tacks I wanted (for my inspiration board in my studio), was able to take pictures of them for you all to see, and have time to clean up before Odyn woke up. Aren't they cute?