[shameless mommy bragging]
NM did so well with his school work today. He had done stuff that I know was hard for him, but he chose to tackle it and didn’t complain or have a fit when he made mistakes. We kept going. We had a looooong break and he came back and we got work done. I love it! Tomorrow, I’ll have him teach Josh the life cycle of an amphibian. He saw our worksheet and he remembered it from Kinder or 1st grade so we’ll take the opportunity for him to wear the teacher hat. That should be fun!
Tonight at church, J didn’t mind being left in the classroom. Last week, his teacher said he cried for five minutes. I was most grateful she let me leave him crying. I knew he would get over the hang up once he confronted it. Tonight we got to see the fruit. His teacher said they had a great, fun class and I could tell in J’s expressions. She also said that he shared his cookies—the three chocolate chip cookies I sent with him—and even broke his in half so that a new student could have some. How sweet is that???
[/shameless mommy bragging]
Now, in case you were about to tell me that I must be doing something right or their dad is, let me stop you. Because nowaynohow can we take full responsibility. There are just some things that you try your best to do (parent) and you have to realize that the kids make their own decisions. Do I listen? If I don’t can I take the consequences? What does God want me to do?
Honestly, for all their rough edges, deep down inside they really care what God thinks of them and they do try to please Him. I get to watch and be blessed.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Amy Caterina's Knit Creatures
You know, that fuzzy yarn that most knitters have in their stash from their beginning knitting days? Most of the time it’s sent to the bottom of the stash once you realize you can’t really see your stitches to know they’re done correctly.
Artist Amy Caterina, current artist-in-residence at CalState Fullerton’s Grand Central Gallery in Santa Ana, CA has managed to use up quite a stash of fun fur. In her installation “This used to be real estate, now it’s only fields and trees.” she knit up several forest creatures—not tiny ones, either—placed in a faux environment of trees and sunny skies.
I guess there is something back in the OC that I have to miss! I’m trying to remember what David Byrne song this artwork reminds me of, but I can’t at the moment.
As seen at the Lion Brand Notebook.
Filed under: crafting, knitting
Spoonflower: Print custom fabric on-demand.
Woohoo! I finally got my invite! I have to actually start creating fabric designs and figure out what to do with them.
The Spoonflower Flickr pool is right here. Go look at the great things people are making with their fabric.
Filed under: crafting
LMNOP Cover
LMNOP: laugh, make, nurture, organize and play. What a neat title for a magazine for parents. This one’s a freebie and it’s available online. Granted, the magazine is Australian so most of the featured products are from there, but it’s chock-full of visual inspiration. Lots of cute!
Filed under: Uncategorized
We were on the way to the pool today when hubby was telling J something that J didn’t necessarily appreciate hearing.
“UGH” said J.
Hubby said something again.
“UNGH!” said J.
Hubby told him something else.
“Dad! Try again, Dad!”
By the way, if you haven’t been told before, make sure you refer to him as cool and never cute.
Filed under: Uncategorized
…you know, you can make so much more than lemonade.
Alternative uses for lemons from Lifehackery. Here’s one I like from a list of fifteen:
4. Treatment for Sore Throat – Slice a lemon and extract the juice. Cut the peel into small pieces and mix them with the juice. Heat the mixture then add honey, depending on your tolerance for sourness. Now, drink the mixture. Your throat will gradually clear up. Just repeat the entire process if your throat gets clogged again.
When I was little, my mom would make me drink warm kalamansi or calamondin juice. It’s a citrus also, but I can’t explain the flavor. Maybe a cross between a lemon and a tangerine? My dad told me that even though it was tiny (smaller than a key lime), a kalamansi had much more vitamin C for its size than a lemon. That’s good because making the juice warm helps it go down easier but does destroy some of the heat-sensitive vitamin C.
Filed under: Foodie Stuff
This week, J completed the last of his Get Ready, Get Set and Go For the Code books. We’re going to be going through the next part of the series. We also got Math-U-See Primer which sounds like it will be a piece of cake for him. That’s good: building proficiency will come later, we’re working on confidence now.
NM is working on multiplication tables. The concept is solid in his mind but the facts are harder to master. I got a set of flash cards that we can work with and we’re starting with the obvious ones and we’ll just play War with the cards and slowly add ones he’s not familiar with and eventually it will work out. I do try to put myself in his shoes and remember how terrified I was of math at this point. He’s not terrified, just frustrated when the answers don’t come so quickly.
We’re not sure what we’re doing tomorrow. Hubby is going to the monthly men’s breakfast and I think we’ll drop him off instead of letting him take the car so that we can run errands. I’ve tried several times this week to go to the local yarn shop to see if I like a certain yarn but no luck. We also have to get NM’s bike tuned up (it may need a new inner tube, too) and then go to the hardware store to buy painter’s tape. Yep, nigh a year and still NM’s room isn’t started. I need to pick out a white that will look nice with his choice of blue lava from last year. I suspect he’ll still like it; it’s not that far from Adidas’ blue. I plan to paint the bottom half of the room that blue, the top and ceilings white and then have three blue stripes serve as a border, a la Adidas. I’ll look for soccer decals and blow up a photo of him in his uniform, maybe, to put on the walls. Then I told him we could try and collect flags from countries with FIFA teams.
And the weather? Too wonderful the last few days. We’ve had nice, warm rain and the boys played in it along with Sprocket. I had to buy her a new leash recently and life is back to normal for her (she’s more controlled with the leash, it’s like magic). I took video of NM walking her around the living room. He’s doing his best to be a part of her training and it’s so cute to watch him at work. Sprocket just follows along, looking up at him every once in a while, no doubt remembering that little bit of cheese that he gave her a few minutes before. He has such a sweet heart.
*sigh*
These moments won’t last and I am so frustrated by my lack of attention to them lately.
Filed under: Family Stuff
I think so, anyway. How about Jaime Hyneman and Adam Savage amigurumi?
Mythbusters - cutified!
Image and dolls belong to Paperheroes.net.
Filed under: crafting
Doesn’t this look like a Karim Rashid design ran into a unicorn and turned into a children’s bookshop?
Kid's Republic bookstore in Beijing
This is a bookstore in Beijing put up by a Chinese publisher, Poplar. I saw this on Bloesem Kids.
Filed under: interiors
I came across a recipe for cobbler that claims to be from the Salt Lick here in Austin, TX which has great brisket and even better peach cobbler. I modified it for blueberries which we purchased at Costco. Here goes:
Batter:
1 stick melted butter (melt while oven is warming)
1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2/3 c. room temperature milk
1 room temperature egg, beaten well
(I’d add the zest of a large lemon next time I make it)
Filling
2 lbs. fresh blueberries
1 c. sugar (you can cut back a bit and it will be ok)
1 c. water
Alternatively, you can use this for filling:
1 (28 oz.) can peaches, drained
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
Melt butter in 9″x13″ pan.
Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Stir in milk and egg.
Pour evenly over melted butter.
Combine filling ingredients and spread over the batter. Do NOT stir.
Bake 35 - 45 minutes or until batter comes to the top and is golden brown and delicious.
Serve warm with ice cream.
o.0
My hubby made burgers for dinner (with Austin’s Own BBQ sauce) and then dished this bowl of cobbler for me. OH. MY. The recipe is spot on like the Salt Lick’s I think, only with the blueberries instead of peaches or blackberries. I glutted myself, no lie.
Filed under: Foodie Stuff
« Previous Entries
