Monday, March 5, 2012

Dinosaurs and Oatmeal

I am going to let you in on a little secret, I get bored playing with my son's toys. I know that is shocking but fire trucks and Thomas can only keep me engaged for so long. I think that my little man feels that way too sometimes. Little man just turned two and is learning and exploring his world more than ever. 

I was on a mission to find activities that would keep his attention and keep me engaged and involved with play time.  It was getting way to easy for me to zone out and not engage as much now that he is able to have more self directed play and I did not want to lose that interaction completely. 

In comes the sensory box, and boy are they fun! I love a good theme and sensory boxes are all about the theme! What is a sensory box, you ask?

A sensory box is a container filled with any kind of tactile material that kids explore with their hands. With a sensory box, children are using their sight, touch, and smell to experience their environment in a totally new way. 

For our first box I used rolled oats and wheat puffs as the base, then added a $2 pack of dinosaurs and some old measuring spoons for digging. I set this up in the middle of our living room on a big sheet. This project took me 10 minutes to put together and $5 in materials that I will be able to reuse in different boxes.We spent the better half of an afternoon playing with the box and he absolutely LOVED it. 



All of our materials

An old plastic container as the box

Here it is all put together

Little man LOVED the box and only made a little mess. I did not mach his shirt to the box on purpose, although I do love a complete theme!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Mason Jars


I love Mason jars! 

I use them for canning, freezing, and short term food storage in both my fridge and pantry.

They hold spices on the walls of my kitchen. I am a very slow decorator, mostly because I cannot commit to anything and I'm not very good at seeing the whole decorating picture but I knew I wanted to do this as soon as we moved into the house.



My kitchen is very long with only one set of upper cabinets. I wanted something on that big wall that would stay clean but also be useful, in came the Mason jars.



You can use them as a flower vase 
Find this vase and many more here

I love the blue color here is the link


Turn them into soap dispensers!
You can buy these jars from this Etsy shop

Use them outside in the garden as hanging lights or lights for a party. 
You can find these lights here
Lifehackers has a great tutorial on how to make solar powered jar lights! I am going to make these in the spring and I will post our pictures then but here is a link to the project if you want to do an indoor project to get ready for spring! 

Follow this project here

I am lucky to still have old Mason jars from both my Grandmother and Great-Grandmother. They are the old blue jars that still have the Zinc lids, you can see one of them pictured above. I do not use the Zinc lids for canning but I do use them with my spice jars. If you like the look of the Zinc lids you can find bags of them at antique stores but they are becoming harder to find so grab them when you find them! 

How do you use Mason jars??

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Exciting News


Well, it's 50 degrees outside. By the way, I live in OHIO! That is just crazy, I actually saw a tree budding today… boy, is he confused! 

I have some exciting news to share! My hubby and I are looking for homesteading property!  We looked at our first round of houses today. Most of them were no-goes for various reasons, too much money or damage that we do not want to deal with, etc. We are looking for our “forever” house so we are being fairly picky.

We did find one house that has a great 8 acre property with a small orchard and chicken coop! The house is very small… at this point I think we are just going to watch and wait. I have been doing research on what to look for in a homestead property and I am not coming up with a lot of people in the looking/buying stage. 

There are a lot of great established homesteading blogs out there but I thought I might talk about our search from the beginning. 

A lot of things go into finding the right property but we have really narrowed our scope to the big three as I will call them.

1.       Location of property – This is the biggest one for us. You cannot move the land once you buy it and we are trying to stay to a specific area to stay close to family. 

2.       The property itself – We can change something like plating the garden, adding trees, all of that, but we cannot bank on being able to buy more land around us so we need to be ok with the size; we are hoping between 5 and 12 acres. 

3.       The house – My husband is extremely handy and my father-in-law knows most things that my hubby does not. We can fix a lot about a house, but it needs good bones and we need to be able to live there right away. We also would like something a little bigger than we have now if possible.

I will keep everyone updated on the search and what we are finding!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Organized

O - Organized, I like to be organized. I feel much calmer in a space if it is cleaned an organized. Here are a few tips to organize your life!

Coupons
 I use a three ring binder and baseball card plastic sleeves to keep everything organized. I also break the coupons into sections by type and location in my store. Here is what I use.

You will need at least 25 sheets to get started. I use twice that.
Any three ring binder will do, just make sure it is big enough. I like the kind that has pockets on the inside, so I can put my list for the day there and the coupons I'm going to use.









Clothing 
I use space bags to store our clothes that are not in use or clothes that the baby grows out of. They really do work and keep dust and dirt off of everything. Then I can just slide the bags under the bed and out of the way. I do not recommend the kind that you can roll and use for traveling to use in long term storage, they let air in after a few weeks.

I also use the kind that are shaped like a cube just make sure it will fit under the bed or wherever you plan to store it. Also the bags can get heavy so make sure you can lift them.




Storage Cubes 
I use collapsible storage cubes for everything. Toys, clothes, books, winter stuff, we have one with an emergency kit for tornado weather, and one for camping. I got most of mine at Ikea and we use this bookshelf system with the cubes as a dresser in our master bedroom. We are able to put a lot more clothes in a small space by doing this. 




Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Big N, Little N, What Begins With N?

N – Intuition I know not an N, but for some reason I am an ENFJ so we are going to go with it. Intuition is preferred to sensing: ENFJs tend to be more abstract than concrete. They focus their attention on the big picture rather than the details, and on future possibilities rather than immediate realities.

N - Nosy, yes I can admit it I am nosy. Not because I want to gossip but I like to know what people are up to. My husband has to stop me from going to open houses in our neighborhood just because I want to see the inside of the house. I do not, however, like much reality TV. It's not real and just bugs me.

Here are some N's from Etsy follow the links below to find out more about them! 

Paperdoll
RingFling
Jack Dolan Woodcraft

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

J, K, L,M...

Being sick is still kicking my butt! I feel like I have been sick all of August... I am finally feeling better I think LOL.

Letters Letters Everywere!
Here we go!


J – Judgment I am an ENFJ (although I think I'm more of an I not an E, but more on that another day) Judgment sounds awful by the well known definition but in Myers Briggs terminology, "Judging" means preferring a structure over a "go with the flow" approach. Js tend to plan their activities and make decisions early. They derive a sense of control through predictability. That is me! Here is a little more about ENFJ personalities:

ENFJs focus on others, feeling a glow when those around them are happy, and troubled when something is amiss. They are natural cheerleaders, often expressing support, gratitude, and encouragement, and heaping praise onto those they appreciate. They take note of what is being done and what needs doing, offering their assistance wherever necessary.

ENFJs enjoy organizing group activities and tend to take their commitments seriously. In general, they are reliable and do not like to disappoint others. As team players and project leaders, they have a gift for rallying their players, focusing on what is being done right and each member's strengths. They are loyal and they expect loyalty. They carry conversations well, finding common ground with their speaker. They tend to find the correct and gracious way to respond in any given situation, no matter how tense or uncomfortable it is.

This makes me giggle
Yeah, this is true also...

 K - Kindness as the above pictures states I am very kind but that is not a weakness. Sometimes those two traits are put together and I do not think that is always the case.

L - Living, I try be to grateful for every day and live it to the fullest I can.  

M - Mother, I am a mother. Being a mother changes who you are and how you view the world and I would not change that for anything. I truly love being a mama and am thankful for the opportunity to share in my son's life

Thursday, August 11, 2011

G, H, I ......

So I have been sick....
My husband has been sick...
My son has been sick...
So that leaves mama without time to even be sick herself...

So I am a little behind on my alphabet. I'm going to a quick catch up post with one tidbit for each letter!

G - Generous - I try to be generous with my time, my resources and even my thoughts. People deserve generosity in any form it takes.

This G can be found here

H - Happy - I am happy! Truly happy, I like my life, my home, my family and friends... I have a very good life.

This H can be found here


I - Instinctive - I trust my gut instincts whenever I get that feeling I go with and so far it has never been wrong. I think that this is the way I use my faith and show my trust the most.

This I can be found here

Monday, August 8, 2011

F is for Fulton Farms

F is for Fulton Farms where I bought five dozen ears of corn to put in my freezer today!!


If you live anywhere near the Troy, Ohio area you should check them out! The corn is so sweet and the ears are huge!

I was able to put more then a dozen bags in the freezer for the long Ohio winter and it only took me two hours while the baby took his nap to clean, blanch, and cut the corn.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Today is E


About me
Eating - I love to eat.... good food makes me happy and trying new food is exciting!

Experiences- I am always looking for new experiences. A new park, new restaurant (see eating), a movie I have never seen.


And in other news
Edible Landscape - Wilmington College, where I when to school and then worked, used Edible Landscaping. It was fun to see peppers being grown next to the library. I am beginning to do research into how I can incorporate that philosophy into my own yard.

A few days ago I talked about blueberry bushes and later today my hubby and I will be pulling out the scraggly bushes to make way for them but I want to take it a few steps farther.

This is a picture of cabbage worked into a flower garden
Snap peas (and blossoms), mustard greens, poppies,
lettuce, kale and parsley. Photo by Marion Owen
I love that you can put vegetables and herbs in your flower beds and still have beautiful landscaping. This method of gardening will also allow me to take advantage of some sunny spots in my yard of which there are very few!

Friday, August 5, 2011

Today's Letter of the Day is D


First and foremost I must use:
Determined - I am determined to be happy and enjoy life. I am determined to make choices that result in a happy and fulfilled life.

Disney - I love Disney, I love the themes, the food, the rides, it is one of my favorite places to be!


One of my favorite attractions in WDW is Living with the Land in Epcot. Here are some fun facts about it.

The Preshow

Living with the Land is actually two rides in one. The first part of the ride takes you on a slow boat ride through a rain forest in the middle of a thunderstorm, a desert scene, and the American prairie. What this has to do with the rest of the ride is really never explored.

There are some interesting effects in this area. You get to feel heat, wind, mist, and experience lightning all used to simulate the actual conditions you are seeing.

The Attraction

After leaving the preshow, the boat and drifts through the five different areas of The Land's Living Laboratory. These areas showcase how agriculture will change in the future. Each area shows a different way to grow a "crop."
  • The Tropics Greenhouse shows crops from tropical areas including bananas, vanilla, pineapple, and papaya along with some more exotic plants.
  • The Temperate Greenhouse shows plants from more dry regions of the world. These include giant pumpkins, sunflowers, beets, and cotton.
  • The String Greenhouse grows plants using vertical growing techniques. The famous tomato tree along with lettuce, cucumbers, and eggplant are grown here. Disney has found a way to make pumpkins in the "Mickey Mouse" form. Some of the produce from this area is used in The Garden Grill and Sunshine Seasons restaurants.
  • The Creative Greenhouse shows some unusual ways to grow plants. Using aeroponics, Disney grows plants by spraying water and nutrients directly onto the roots of plants which are planted in air. There is also an exhibit by NASA showing hydroponics units that are being developed for long space journeys.
  • The Aquacell is where fish are grown. Yes, fish are a crop. They are grown and harvested. The Aquacell grows alligators, shrimp, bass and more in both high density and low density tanks and tubes.
A Tomato Tree

 The Postshow

Before getting off the boat, you see photos of people from all over the world and how they produce food.
  • More than 30 tons of fruits and vegetables grown at The Land Pavilion at Epcot are served in Walt Disney World restaurants
  • The dog in the farm scene of Epcot's The Land boat ride is the same dog as the one in Epcot's Horizons, Magic Kingdom's Carousel of Progress and the one holding the keys in Magic Kingdom's Pirates of the Caribbean. It was Walt Disney's dog.
  • The "dark-portion" of the ride is remnants of the Western River Expansion ride that was created for the Magic Kingdom but never built
  • There are 35 audio-animatronics in the attraction
  • The "Tomato Tree" produces over 32,000 tomatoes over a 16 month period
I also have to mention that D is for:
Dad - I happen to have a great one that also loves Disney. Hi Dad!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

C is for Cookie

C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me, Cookie Cookie Cookie starts with C.

Cookie Monster Cupcakes


AND...

Cooking - I really love to cook and I have a very strong food heritage that I hope to pass down to my son.

Cucumbers - I am growing them, pickling them, and eating them on a regular basis right now!

Church - Church and cooking go together for me. I enjoy cooking for others and do so often for my church.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Letter of the Day is B, and in Other News: Blueberries!

Today is being brought to us by the letter B

Bold and Bashful... I know that is kind of an oxymoron but so am I! 



Bold - When I really believe in something or I see someone that cannot stand up for themselves I become very bold. I also can give presentations and run workshops with confidence as long as I am comfortable with the material.

You can buy this cute little girl here


Bashful- I can be very bashful in social situations. I'm not very good at being a social butterfly and tend to be quiet when faced with parties and new social settings.

While we are on the topic of B, let's talk about blueberries!

I am thinking about ripping out some scraggly bushes in my front yard (one of the few places that receives full sun in my yard) and planting blueberry bushes.

I have been reading "Back Yard Homestead" by Carleen Madigan
and have been inspired to try and replace some of my not-so-cute ornamental plants with cuter and more functional fruiting plants.

I have been looking at a few types of blueberry bushes online and am leaning towards Toro Blueberry and Sweetheart Blueberry bushes; both work well in my zone (5) and make a lot of fruit. Another bonus is these bushes are very pretty in the fall when the leaves change.

The Sweetheart has two crops of berries each year! The first one is in summer and a second one in fall--yielding around 15 pounds more than the average blueberry bush per year.

Even after an extremely cold winter, Toros will produce tons of sweet berries in mid-July. Fantastic as a border or privacy hedge… the Toro boasts delicate white to hot pink flowers in the spring and fiery red foliage in the fall. It's even self fertile! It is not necessary to provide a pollinator for the Toro. However, planting another variety of blueberry alongside the Toro will increase berry production.

So maybe I will plant one of each?


The sad front bed
Do you have blueberry bushes? Do you have any other suggestions for my sad front bed?

Monday, August 1, 2011

The Alphabet in August

Its hard to believe that it is already August! This summer has been going at light speed. I am going to be participating in "The Alphabet in August" series originating on a blog called Chiot's Run. This is one of my favorite blogs and I thought it would be fun to participate in this challenge. The goal is to come up with words or ideas to describe yourself for each letter of the alphabet.

Photo From Chiot's Run

Today's Letter is A - Active. 

I am a very active person. I like to do things, see things, and have new experiences whenever possible. I Think the best example of this is my favorite vacation, Disney. Disney is an extremely active vacation but it is my favorite place to be. I love to go places for anniversaries and birthdays. Rather than be given things, I like to be given experiences, like visiting a new town, seeing a theater production, or going to the zoo.

Although I will admit now that I am a mom, the thought of sitting on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean for a few days does not sound too bad....

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

I Like You (by Sandol Stoddard Warburg)

I Like You (by Sandol Stoddard Warburg)

Someone in my family used this poem in their wedding recently and I really liked it so I thought I would share. 

I like you and I know why.
I like you because you are a good person to like.
I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it's special
And you remember it a long, long time.
You say, "Remember when you told me something special?"
And both of us remember

When I think something is important
you think it's important too
We have good ideas
When I say something funny, you laugh
I think I'm funny and you think I'm funny too
Hah-hah!

I like you because you know where I'm ticklish
And you don't tickle me there except just a little tiny bit sometimes
But if you do, then I know where to tickle you too

You know how to be silly
That's why I like you
Boy are you ever silly
I never met anybody sillier than me till I met you
I like you because you know when it's time to stop being silly
Maybe day after tomorrow
Maybe never
Too late, it's a quarter past silly!

Sometimes we don't say a word
We snurkle under fences
We spy secret places
If I am a goofus on the roofus hollering my head off
You are one too
If I pretend I am drowning, you pretend you are saving me
If I am getting ready to pop a paper bag,
then you are getting ready to jump
HOORAY!

That's because you really like me
You really like me, don't you?
And I really like you back
And you like me back and I like you back
And that's the way we keep on going every day

If you go away, then I go away too
or if I stay home, you send me a postcard
You don't just say "Well see you around sometime, bye"
I like you a lot because of that
If I go away, I send you a postcard too
And I like you because if we go away together
And if we are in Grand Central Station
And if I get lost
Then you are the one that is yelling for me

And I like you because when I am feeling sad
You don't always cheer me up right away
Sometimes it is better to be sad
You can't stand the others being so googly and gaggly every single minute
You want to think about things
It takes time
I like you because if I am mad at you
Then you are mad at me too
It's awful when the other person isn't
They are so nice and hoo-hoo you could just about punch them in the nose

I like you because if I think I am going to throw up
then you are really sorry
You don't just pretend you are busy looking at the birdies and all that
You say, maybe it was something you ate
You say, the same thing happened to me one time
And the same thing did

If you find two four-leaf clovers, you give me one
If I find four, I give you two
If we only find three, we keep on looking
Sometimes we have good luck, and sometimes we don't
If I break my arm, and if you break your arm too
Then it's fun to have a broken arm
I tell you about mine, you tell me about yours
We are both sorry
We write our names and draw pictures
We show everybody and they wish they had a broken arm too

I like you because I don't know why but
Everything that happens is nicer with you
I can't remember when I didn't like you
It must have been lonesome then
I like you because because because
I forget why I like you but I do

So many reasons
On the 4th of July I like you because it's the 4th of July
On the fifth of July, I like you too
If you and I had some drums and some horns and some horses
If we had some hats and some flags and some fire engines
We could be a HOLIDAY
We could be a CELEBRATION
We could be a WHOLE PARADE

See what I mean?
Even if it was the 999th of July
Even if it was August
Even if it was way down at the bottom of November
Even if it was no place particular in January
I would go on choosing you
And you would go on choosing me
Over and over again

That's how it would happen every time
I don't know why
I guess I don't know why I really like you
Why do I like you
I guess I just like you
I guess I just like you because I like you.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

My Growing Garden

Despite all of my bug and critter issues, my garden is growing! Here are some pictures I took yesterday.
Little tomatoes

YAY, I see canning in my future!


Onions

Potato, I covered him up after the picture!

Brussels sprouts


Peppers


Cucumbers

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Halushki Recipe

Halushki is a cabbage and noodle dish. It is very popular in Slavic and Polish cooking. Every family makes it a little differently. This is my Great Grandma Baba’s recipe that was given to me by my Grandmother Mema - that makes this recipe at least 100 years old, maybe more.  It will always remind me of family events and although some people think that fried cabbage smells funny, to me it smells like home.

Prepare Ahead (If you want to, you can make everything the same day)
1 medium head of cabbage, chopped into small pieces. Fry in skillet with 1 stick of butter covered, until transparent. Remove cover and continue frying until cabbage has become slightly brown then put it in your crockpot. (May be done a few days earlier and kept in the refrigerator until needed).
This is a huge cabbage, look at it compared to the bowl behind it!  Because it was so big I only used half.


4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into cubes. Cooked until done, I boil them until fork tender (this can also be done early and refrigerated until needed). Add those to the crockpot.


Make day you are serving
Prepare 16oz of Kuluski noodles according to package directions then add them to the crockpot. I cheat sometimes and cook the potatoes and noodles together, they seem to do fine and make fewer dirty dishes, YAY.
These are what I used but you can use the ones that come in a bag dried or make your own!
Brown ½ pound of bacon, drain some of the drippings off but leave at least two tablespoons in the pan. Take bacon out of pan and brown 1 medium onion, chopped. After onion is browned, crumble bacon and add back into the pan.

Mix bacon and onion together then dump the whole thing (including the drippings used to brown the onions) into your crock pot.



Mix together well and add 1 cup of chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste. Cook this mixture on low until ready to serve. Cook at least an hour in the crockpot but can be left on low most of the day if needed. If you will be leaving it in the crockpot for a long time you might need to add more chicken broth.

If you do not have a crockpot you can still make this dish, just combine all of the ingredients in a big pot on the stove and cook it on a low temperature until ready to serve.

Baba's Halushki
1 medium head of cabbage
4 medium potatoes
16oz thick noodles
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 pound bacon
1 stick butter
1-2 cups chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Crockpot

Prepare Ahead
1 medium head cabbage, chopped into small pieces. Fry in skillet with 1 stick of butter covered, until transparent. Remove cover and continue frying until cabbage has become slightly brown then put it in your crockpot. (May be done a few days earlier and kept in the refrigerator until needed).

4 medium potatoes peeled and diced into cubes. Cooked until done, I boil them until fork tender (this can also be done early and refrigerated until needed). Add those to the crockpot.
Prepare 16oz of Kuluski noodles according to package directions then add them to the crockpot.
Brown ½ pound of bacon drain some of the drippings off but leave at least two table spoons in the pan. Take Bacon out of pan and brown 1 medium onion, chopped. After onion is browned, crumble bacon and add back into the pan.

Mix bacon and onion together then dump the whole thing (including the drippings used to brown the onions) into your crockpot.

Mix together well and add 1 cup of chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste. Cook this mixture on low until ready to serve. Cook at least an hour in the crockpot but can be left on low most of the day if needed. If you will be leaving it in the crockpot for a long time you might need to add more chicken broth. 
 Have you ever had Halushki? Do you like it?
 

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