Everything Else, Family

Party Planning for the almost-8-year-old!

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We are planning a birthday party!  In just a few shorts days, my youngest will be 8!

After offering a few suggestions, he came up with an idea of his own.  He would like a Wii Bowling Party.  That I can do!

Of course, Pinterest has some wonderful suggestions for just such a party:

 

 

 

We will be keeping it small, but I see balloon streamers, red and white paper straws, and oreo bowling balls in my future!

 

Everything Else, Family

Making Valentine’s Day Special

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In the span of 5 days, our house will celebrate Mardi Gras, Valentine’s Day, and an 8th birthday.  Craziness. 

I really don’t want Valentine’s Day to get lost in the middle of all these other celebrations.  You see, Valentine’s Day is not all about red and pink and hearts and chocolates and such at our house.  Instead, the days around Valentine’s Day mark some very special days of remembrance and celebrating for us:

  • 4 years ago, Grandpa died on February 12 and at his funeral on the 14th, we received so many blessings of love from family and friends.
  • 2 years ago, Christopher was baptized on February 13 after giving his heart to Jesus.
  • 1 year ago, Addie accepted Jesus into her heart the night of February 14th after she began to understand His Unconditional Love.

To celebrate these special moments, and acknowledge the ‘holiday’ that is St. Valentine’s Day, I decided to offer my family something different this year.  We are sending valentines to each other every day this month.  (I’ll admit, it also has a few more advantages like no extra candy to tempt me and forcing a certain tween to think of nice things to say to an obnoxious little brother!)

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We each have a little mail box on the piano.  At some point in the day, each person must leave a ‘love’ note for another person.  I’ve got a bag stashed with paper, scissors, stickers, pins, and glue ready for them to grab something and whip up a note.  

So far, there have been the classics (“You’re the best mom EVER” and “I love you”), the unimaginative (“Happy February”), and the subtle hints (“I love you Mom and I wish we could have your yummy pound cake after school.”)  This could get really interesting!!!

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Everything Else, Good Food

Where, oh where, is the purple sugar???

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It’s that time of year again—the time when I scrounge every cabinet and cubby looking for my purple, green, and gold sprinkles!  It never fails, no matter how certain I am that I purchased extra last year, I can never find 1 color!  This year it’s purple. 

Oh well!  I made do this year.  Thank goodness for food coloring!

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I made this year’s king cake with my favorite Southern Living recipe and one BIG change.  I used a nutella filling.  (Inspiration straight from a classmate on Facebook!)  The filling tastes delicious, so I can’t wait to cut into the cake when the kids get home from school.

Everything Else, Gardens

Our Winter Garden

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Wowzer!  Is there anything sadder than a veggie garden in winter?  Yikes!

IMG_4938The weather has been really mild the past few weeks, encouraging me to work outside a bit.  While these warmer days tempt me to plant, plant, plant, I know that it’s not quite time for most things.  I have been able to add a little compost to the beds, along with a layer of straw mulch.  I’m hoping to keep those early weeds down.  In the meantime, I do have a few cold-hardy veggies growing. 

IMG_4940What’s ready to eat:

    • broccoli
    • cabbage
    • kale
    • chard

 

What’s growing:

    • strawberries
    • sugar snaps    
    • carrots
    • onions
    • spinach
    • leaf lettuce

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What’s started in the greenhouse:

 

  • tomatoes (romas and slicers)
  • peppers
  • sunflowers

 

 

C’mon SPRING!!!!

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Everything Else

What’s on My Cutting Table-February 5th Edition

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Along with all the seersucker and Easter pieces I’m shipping to my customers, I’ve got 2 other projects on the cutting table right now.

1.  Pants for the boy.  He hates zippers.  But…he’s almost 8!  For his birthday, I’ve decided to make 2 pair of slacks with a fake fly front and an elastic waistband.  I’m making a (hopefully wearable) muslin out of a random piece of gray.  If it works well, then I’ll make a second pair out of a pale-blue/gray pinstripe.

 

2.  A dress for the girl.  She doesn’t often get excited about fabric at the store, so when she does I grab it.  This piece is crazy!

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There is so much going on in this one piece of fabric.  Neither one of us liked the border of the fabric, so I kept that in mind when looking for a pattern.  I choose Simpilicity 1815.  It’s a cute little sundress and I’ve cut it so that the pleated top will be mostly pink, changing to white at the waist and then the hem will feature large pink/orange/black print.

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That’s what’s on my cutting table.  What projects are you working on?

 

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