Really?!?

This is the week that I give up dairy?
Girl Scout Cookie week?
*sob*

Time to get to work, kid

second time's the charm

I have recently been aware that no cold lasts 15 years, and maybe the reason that I have constant post-nasal drip and coughing is the dairy in my diet.
So, yesterday, I made the decision to cut out dairy for a week or two to see if I feel better.
All day yesterday I had moments of dumbness, like "I am a little munchy, how 'bout some cheese? Oh, right, or some yogurt, hmmm, Chocolate?...nope."
My hope is that this will abate over the course of the next couple of weeks.

I did not, however, give up all dietary fun, and this afternoon the Hug-a-Bugs and myself made a batch of dairy-free cupcakes.

I used the recipe from this book for Emergency Snacking Cake.
I had hoped to make a wacky cake from my Grandma Pearl's recipe, but I couldn't find it.

It went o.k. even though we hit a few snags.

The first is the tiny fit thrown by the Elder when the only apron was going to the Younger, even though I made it for her when she was three.

In an attempt to diffuse the situation I threw together a new apron for the Elder.
Because of an earlier ribbon-buying spree, I had about a yard of cute flower twill tape in the stash and I sewed it along the top edge of a kitchen towel.
Easy make, easy wear, easy care.
The apron situation sorted, we began on the batter.There was enough excitement (and I use that term loosely) making the batter that I forgot the baking soda.
Well, cupcakes don't rise without leavening.

So while the kids ate their lunches, I made a quick second batch and they came out perfectly.

I didn't like these as much as my grandma's recipe, but they do well in a snacking emergency.

I leave you with a hint of spring,My mom took some cuttings from her lilac bushes and put them in water a week or two ago, and her front window is full of greeny goodness, I just had to do the same.
It sure is nice to see something green and growing.

Have a fun afternoon,
Jess

new game

My darling son has invented a new game.
Tire rut maze.
He'll follow the ruts in our neighbors parking pad and get stuck, and then try to find his way out.
It is super cute and fun, and when he gets tired, so to speak, he just stomps across the snow to get out.

Lazy Day

The concert last night was a ton of fun and we got some terrific donations, Thank You!
So today is a lazy day.
On the agenda today is to finish up some work projects, make a pot roast and maybe take the kids to the Children's Museum.

How's your lazy day shaping up?

Caritas

Hi!
Just a reminder that Caritas Vocal Ensemble has its first concert of the season tomorrow.
We always have our first concert of the year at the church where we rehearse and this year they have been generous enough to give us the proceeds.

If you would like to attend, the concert is at Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer at 5440 Penn Avenue South, in Minneapolis at 4:00 PM.
We are performing music from all over the world, in six different languages, and composers spanning 5 centuries.

Please come and join us for a fun afternoon of music, and we will have cookies too.

Jess

A Fifth of Yellow

Here it is the last day of Yellow Week.
This cornbread was a little dry, so the honey was a necessity.

yellow goes forth

It seems like most of the yellow that I see around, other than our walls, is a toy that has been left out...

Yellow the third

This is the yellow section of my Color Wheel Quilt.
Anytime I try to talk about this quilt and how it fills my life with beautiful colors, I start to sound like a cheesy greeting card, so I will refrain.

six

Jen from Painted Fish Studio tagged me with the 6 thingy.
This photo is the sixth photo in the sixth photo folder in my pictures on the computer.
This is the Elder Hug-a-Bug at about 16 months old.
I am glad that I got tagged with this, because I probably wouldn't have looked at this photo otherwise.
What a ham!

Yellow II

We have had the odd day here and there of nice-ish weather and the kids have made the most of them.

Yellow week

Erin at House on Hill Road is hosting a yellow week, and as we have been seeing a lot of gray lately, I am playing along.
I have a somewhat unhealthy love of ceramic things shaped like fruit.
This lemonade serving set has been hiding in the china cabinet for too long.
Happy Yellow Week!
Jess

Breakfast doings

"One night there was a robot and he took away all of our dishes and then he put them in his dryer and then he washed them and he dried them and then he brought them back to us and then he put them away.
Do you want to hear it again?"
This is the wonderful tale of the robot that the Younger Hug-a-Bug told during breakfast.
While we ate our belated Valentine's Day breakfast.
Happy Valentine's, a day late...
Jess

Lack of focus

I am suffering from a major lack of focus right now.

But before I go on with that thought, thanks for the sweet comments on my swap package!
To answer Early Bird Special, I took the pattern that I made up for One Yard Wonders and reduced it by half on my copier/printer.

Back to my lack of focus-
After working on the stuff for the Handmade Swap for a couple of weeks, I feel like I don't know quite how to proceed after I sent it off.
There are sweaters to knit, rooms to re-organize, cookies to bake (which I have had to get up and tend to during the writing of this post), and to top it all off, the weather has been actually nice here in the north.
We are kind of hermit-y in the winter.
I don't like getting cold or wet and especially don't like getting wet and cold.
That said, we were able to get out and run around a little yesterday.
Just last week, this field was covered in about a foot and a half of snow, but we have had a few 40-something degree days and it has all melted away.
I am also part of another swap, I just can't stop signing up for them, to send out 10 small squares of fabric to 14 people and get back 10 squares from each of them.
They have been arriving a couple at a time for about a week and I get so excited when they arrive, but I have a natural fear of all that which is not symmetrical or rainbow, so it will be a giant challenge to actually assemble a quilt top.
I have to pick up the Elder Hug-a-Bug now, and hope that she wasn't mortified by the fact that she seemed to be the only kid who didn't give out any candy with her valentines...

Jess

Hooray for Handmade

I have just cut the last threads on my last addition to the package for the Bird and Little Bird Celebrating Handmade Swap.
Tomorrow is the mailing deadline, so I have to find a box and pack it up and send it on to my swap partner during my semi-weekly 50 minutes of freedom.
I am a little surprised by the results, as three items doesn't seem quite commensurate with the giant mess that I have accomplished in my sewing area.





I hope that my partner likes her package, I planned the doll and doll's quilt for her 6 year-old and the rocket for her baby.

Have a great Monday,
Jess

Watch this.

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Thanks to Meema for posting this.
Please pass it on.

Thanks!

Golly, thanks for all of the sweater love!

I have convinced the Elder Hug-a-Bug to wear it during these past really cold days, but she rips it off as soon as she gets to school.
sigh
It's really for her to decide.
I will not control her clothing habits.
wallow finished.

On to my favorite moment today-

We were hanging out and the Elder starts singing "I've Got Peace Like a River" so I put on the Elizabeth Mitchell record and we all started singing along, and they were playing so nicely and then I had peace like a river and joy like a fountain, and as quickly as it came, it passed, and then came the screaming and smashing of cars and ramps.

What can one do?

We also had fun today making the Valentines cards for the Elder's class.
I cut a potato in half and cut out a heart shape with a cookie cutter, then I cut the excess away from around the heart, and voila! instant potato stamp.
We have 19 Valentines to make so I divided some card stock into 9ths and she stamped one heart into each section.
When they are dry we will cut them apart and then she'll sign each one.
They came out pretty awesome.
What can I say, my daughter is a genius at Valentines.
I guess I can just add that to the list of her talents, which are myriad.

Have a great weekend,
Jess

I saw this on another blog and I had to post it too.

Visit.
Enjoy.

Annie and the Wild Animals is complete!

I finished it last night.
I did have one last hiccup before it was totally finished.
I put the sleeves on and when the Elder Hug-a-Bug tried it on it became clear that the sleeves were too short.
So, I pulled out the kitchener, added about an inch and a half to both sleeves and re-kitchenered them.
Now it fits perfectly, but she says it's itchy.
Maybe she won't mind if she's wearing it out in the snow, feeding corn cakes to moose.
Have a restful Sunday night,
Jess