perfectly flawed

moved

2009-10-22T23:36:00.001-04:00

i have officially moved. you can find me at sonic glow. if you care. maybe you do.

being 5

2009-08-06T23:07:00.006-04:00

being 5 is a new experience for daughter. at first, she said it was difficult being 5. 5 just feels so different from 4. she can't exactly pinpoint the difference. but it's there. she assures me.

we made a list of things that daughter wants to learn more about when she's 5. this list included chocolate, mermaids, fairies, animals, dolphins, sharks and castles. so, today, we started the day off building castles. this is daughter's castle. on the top of the castle, stands a mean princess alongside her father and a man who has travelled a distance to teach them to dance.

in the middle of building castles, daughter announced that she wanted to learn to knit. she has dabbled in yarn play but never really expressed a desire for actual instruction. she tends to be resistant if she thinks i am imposing and trying to "teach" her something. i find it best to just go with her flow.

she selected a pretty pink yarn and we settled down with some hefty needles. the knitting was short lived but she jumped at the chance to try her hand at crochet. within minutes, she was hooking a chain. her pride was evident; she glowed. several times, throughout the day, she settled in to crochet a bit. while brother was in his room with a friend, she joined them with her crochet and worked a few stitches as they played. and tonight, she took her crochet to bed with her.

when she grows up, she wants to own a yarn store and teach people to crochet. she invited me to work at her store and teach people to knit. i'm keeping my fingers crossed.

random:

currently reading when madeline was young. i have mixed feelings on this one. it's not gripping or riveting. but i keep on reading. the characters are vivid and compelling. the story line is thought provoking. but something seems lacking, amiss.

also reading what's he really thinking. i broke out my highlighter for this one. i'm liking it. more later.

i have set a goal to list one item on etsy for the next 7 days. YOU are my accountability partner, like it or not.

peacock party

2009-08-02T14:31:00.008-04:00

daughter celebrated her 5th birthday a few days ago. it's hard to believe that i've had this little girl in my life for 5 years. she is amazing in so many ways. she is vibrant, so full of life. she is imaginative and creative. she is content with both the real world around her and the fantasy worlds that she creates. she is charming and outgoing. she has a love and compassion for animals. she never stops talking unless she is asleep and, even then, she talks. she is willful and determined. she loves crafts and art. she tells me that she loves me at the most random and apropro of times. she's is, simply, a cool person.

about a month ago, daughter announced that she wanted a peacock party. whatever that means. i have no clue where this idea came from but she was quite adamant. peacocks. hmmm....

we have a family ritual for birthdays. we hang up a banner to celebrate the day; daughter and son have birthday crowns that they wear. the night before the birthday, i set up a birthday tablescape complete with flowers, cake, balloons, presents and decorations. and, on the birthday, we celebrate in the morning, open presents and have cake for breakfast. yes, four times a year, we have cake for breakfast and it's absolutely divine.

i attempted to make a white layer cake with a new recipe. this is the result.

so i made up a batch of cupcakes and created a cupcake tower using some bowls and serving plates. i love how the tower turned out.

as you can see, i am NOT a cake decorator. i fancy myself creating magnificiant cakes for my children as my mother did for me. but it just ain't happening. cake decorating is just not my love. my cakes will taste amazing but don't expect much in the looks department. fortunately, my family has low expectations in this area and they're always thrilled.

happy birthday, daughter!!

peacock tablescape

peacock bouquet

the birthday crown

birthday banner

forever

2009-07-24T12:10:00.003-04:00

my new favorite youtube video. so fun. it's so awesome that the entire wedding party was cool enough to go along with the idea. love, love, love it!!!

pop.

2009-07-18T17:26:00.007-04:00

another pop up card. this is my second. love the way it turned out.

front

the pop

coordinating envelope

these little things are addictive. i can totally see an obsession coming on. and we wouldn't want that, now would we?

the princess and the party

2009-07-17T18:02:00.006-04:00

daughter was invited to a birthday party. laney is the party girl and the party is tomorrow. laney's mom, liz, blogs here and her pastor dad, david, blogs over here. just in case you're interested. and i know you are.

the birthday girl is quite the girly girl. given that, i whipped up the ultimate girly girl get-up: a damsel hat, tutu and fairey princess wand.

i found the damsel hat tutorial at skip to my lou. the hat has some slight structural difficluties as the interfacing just did not want to adhere to the felt. so i'm not totally thrilled with the hat but it is quite pretty. grosgrain provided the tutu tute. isn't the midsummer night's dream tutu fabulous? and, finally, the wand idea came from jessica over at zakka life. jessica is one crafty mama.

naturally, my own little princess became a wee tad jealous of the ensemble and had to try it on. she has a birthday coming up in 2 weeks. i'll be making her a similar set for her birthday. pink and black as requested. ssshhhhh....don't tell.

there's no place like home

2009-07-08T17:23:00.002-04:00

chanted this phrase while clicking ruby birkenstocks. it worked.

we arrived home from vacation yesterday. totally worn out and exhausted. i really need a day or so to relax and re-groove. cause everyone needs a few days of relaxation after a vacation, right? but instead of unpacking, going through the weeks' mail and just, well, adjusting, i took the kids to monkey joes today. to be fair, this was a mystery shop that was previously scheduled. though this was huge fun for the kids, i really need some time to catch up on laundry and housework. instead, i sat at monkey joes and knitted while watching the kids play. my life is just so full of depth and purpose, huh?

random:

picked up 4 new rolls of colored duct tape including a fantabulous metallic silver.

have i mentioned that i love my dyson vacuum cleaner? buy one. you won't regret it.

right now, my only television addiction is the tragically horrible nyc prep. why am i obsessed with really, really bad reality tv?

vacation. day 4.

2009-07-05T18:14:00.008-04:00

yesterday, we hit the beach around 3ish. perfect timing. the water was calm and the tide was out which made for great play for daughter and peace of mind for paranoid mama. it's pleasant when the kids can play in the shallow pools and i don't have to be all hypervigilant. of course, son must venture out to catch the breaking waves which brings on the irrational fear of the great white shark attack. my brother, however, did reassure me that sharks would leave my son alone and surely go for the larger targets who were swimming father out. for the sake of sanity, i believed him. for about 2 hours.

after the beach, brother dustin made another wonderful dinner. greek shrimp scampi, a recipe that he picked up from this blog. amazing stuff.

we followed up with a super tasty tres leche cake, topped with blueberries and strawberries in keeping with festivities of the fourth of july. this is the cake of all cakes. divine.

after dinner, dustin, my brother, busted out the illegal alabama fireworks. we were also privy to a neighbor's quite impressive firework show. great fun and, all the better, as we didn't have to leave the house.

this morning, i got up and decided to check out a local church with the kids. i chose northstar. it was my hope that this church would be welcoming and have some rockin music. most church *say* that they are inclusive and that everyone is welcome. we all know that isn't necessarily the case. these days, my hair is a bright shade of pink. time to find out how welcoming they really are, huh?

we parked in a visitor parking space right up front and were sincerely welcomed by a little old lady who greeted us at the front door. people were quite friendly. awesome message. and, yes, the music was pretty rockin. i must say, we all enjoyed our church experience.

after church, it was craft time. first up, food crafts with grandma. using these 5 ingredients:

the kids made these adorable little hamburgers. super cute, huh?

then onto duct tape fun. this was my first attempt at a duct tape project and we were all totally impressed with the results. i made a small clutch purse which coordinates perfectly with my iphone case. son helped create a case for his psp. and daughter created her own small coin purse. we will totally be seeking out other colors and expanding our duct tape horizons.

random:

have nearly finished a simple rolled brim hat with the surprise yarn. will post a pic tomorrow.

vacation pics have been sorely lacking as i have been using my iphone. sadly, my for real camera is only slightly better. someday, i'll have a grown up camera. promise

vacation. day 3.

2009-07-04T10:18:00.004-04:00

yesterday morning, we went to mexico beach, a sleepy little beach town that has, sadly, begun to see growth and new construction. regardless, the beaches are quiet and traffic is minimal, even on a holiday weekend. twelve years ago, husband and i were married on mexico beach and had the reception at driftwood inn. good times.

so, i took the kids to mexico beach. the beach is a novelty for them. daughter enjoys collecting shells and playing in the sand while son busied himself riding waves. my brother and his family were there, too. i am not one to bask in the sun; i much prefer shade. yesterday, it was crazy windy. good in that the breeze was awesome. bad in that the sunbrella could not stand without blowing away. as i said, i am a shade maven so this was a bad, bad thing. fortunately, the kids are much like their mama and were quite content to return home after 90 minutes of sand and sun.

last night, my brother, dustin, took control of dinner and made his specialty, fried grouper and hushpuppies. the man can fry some grouper. seriously. it was an awesome meal. the grouper was accompanied by an amazing vinegar based asian cole slaw made by my sister in law, erin. yummy stuff. dustin says that tonight's dinner will be a greek inspired, shrimp feta pasta dish of his creation. i'm getting hungry just thinking about it. is 10:00 am too early for dinner? i think not.

after dinner, randy, my mother's partner, suggested that we hit the first night street party. the streets in downtown panama city are blocked off and filled with bands, vendors, antique automobiles and a variety of activities. so, i packed up the kids and headed out with rand-o.

it was a neat event and much more than i expected. son is developing and appreciation for old, muscle cars and eyed the vintage rides. we came upon a children's area and the kids had their faces painted, chilled by a fountain and spent quite a bit of time playing in bouncy huts. the heat was just oppressive but daughter and son were good sports. randy and i headed home with 2 exhausted kids who slept soundly throughout the night.

random:

i finished a pair of hot pink gauntlets for daughter. christmas present. i started on matching legwarmers. daughter will LOVE this.

i've been jonesing for a good piece of fiction. any recommendations?

surprises

2009-07-03T16:07:00.007-04:00

a surprise from my mother. someone passed this along to her. gorgeous colorways. some lovely hand-dyed wool. i'm thinking this would make a lovely wrap. be jealous.

vacation. the first day

2009-07-02T11:20:00.004-04:00

yesterday, we trekked down to panama city, florida for a family vacation. family vacation, sans husband. it's a 6 hour drive. son has always been great on road trips. evan as a toddler, he has had the ability to occupy himself. he is very much a thinker, an observer. he can gaze out the window and study the scenery for quite long stretches. daughter, on the other hand, is chatty and animated. the queen of are-we-there-yet.

our roadtrip plan consists of plenty of books on tape. we listened to the whipping boy and the beautiful stories of life. both were huge hits with son. daughter did not enjoy the myths and, not so promptly, fell asleep. a small blessing. we are so fond of books on tape, courtesy of our local library which has an amazing selection. a few months ago, we listened to the entire little house series. often we would sit in the car, listening to the rest of a particularly absorbing chapter, even after reaching our destination. for the trip home, we have where the red fern grows.

as panama city is in a different time zone, we all awoke bright and early at 7 am. as it is horiffically hot and humid, we made an early morning trip to a nearby park, the mother of all parks. it is directly on the bay with wonderful views of the water. the entire area is filled with magnolias and live oaks covered with a canopy of spanish moss, creating wonderful gothic shade. the play area is a huge wooden castle complete with turrets and rubber bridges. just a magical place. well, at least for 45 minutes until the heat kicked in and both kids begged to return to a.c.

we plan on staying in florida for 5 days. with my mother. we'll see how it goes. 5 days is pretty much a 4 skein trip.

my plan is to start the 3d christmas stocking as well as a pair of hot pink fingerless gloves. the stockings are all done in handpainted yarn. the hot pink yarn is classic elite, from my stash. 5 days of leisurely knitting, reading and playing. life is good.

pondering...

2009-06-30T21:41:00.007-04:00

"The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason." --T.S. Eliot

how often do we do the right thing for the wrong reason? is the greatest treason, the greatest sin, being inauthentic and untrue to ourself and to others?

think on this. i am.

Over the Weekend....

2009-06-29T14:22:00.007-04:00

I love Saturday mornings in the summer. Early morning trips to the farmer's market are one of life's small pleasures. Around here, strawberries are still in season. Maybe for one more week. I picked up a flat of small, sweet berries and used 1/2 for a traditional sugar jam. Today, I shall use the rest for a jam using honey instead of sugar. Then we'll do a taste test. Jam on bread is one of daughter's favorite meals. She asks for it often, including earlier today. After market, we broke the fast and had lemon poppy seed bread with fresh strawberries and blueberries in raw cream.

Later in the day, I finally finished husband's stocking. Love the colors. I'll post pics after it's felted. Two down; two to go.

Yesterday, Sunday, I completed an invitation for daughter's fifth birthday. She informed me that she wanted a peacock birthday party and cake. Interesting choice. This year, daughter wants to invite grandparents and cousins to her party. None of her friends, just family. A simple request and one that means that I only need to make 4 invitations. So, it's a peacock party with the family.

Daughter has never had a "real" birthday party; our parties are generally just us. Maybe one or 2 friends over for cake. Both kids have been to many birthday parties. Large home parties. Parties at skating rinks and bowling alleys with thirty kids. One quite grand party featuring an exotic animal theme with a live snake, monkey and skunk. I sometimes wonder when my kids will ask for something more, an event with activities and tons of presents. So far, they seem to be content with less. And for this, I'm grateful.

I came up with this peacock card which turned out quite cute. My first attempt at a pop up card. I've got a few weeks to mull over the cake which works out perfectly as I am certainly one who obsesses. I'm taken with the idea of a cupcake tower with each layer iced with different colors of vibrant frosting. Peacock-y, of course. Thoughts?

Random thoughts:

Finished Burned. Crank is sitting in front of me but I have no desire to read it. I went out of order and read Glass first so the allure is lost. Likely, I'll end up passing on Crank.

Reading Ragamuffin Gospel. Again. A book about beautiful free grace. We have it. We need to give it to others.

Daughter was feverish and chilled last night, very miserable. I was up much of the night and ended up sleeping with her. When I finally convinced her to take children's Motrin, she calmed down and slept well for the rest of the night. This morning, she's fine with only a slight runny nose. Small blessings.

Saturday night, closed down Starbucks with a new friend. Isn't it awesome when you meet some and click? Doesn't happen often but it sure is cool when it does.

2 Minutes in Heaven

2009-06-28T11:04:00.002-04:00

Now this is what I call funny. I love these guys. And it's funny cause it's true.

A Day in the Kitchen

2009-06-26T12:30:00.009-04:00

Yesterday was a kitchen day. I function best when I do a great deal of cooking and baking on one day. Then I have 2 or 3 down days where I can just focus on dinner and any extras.

About four years ago, I started milling my own grains with the help of a class at Breadbeckers. Like everything else, I jumped into it fully and now make all of our breads and baked goods. Milled grains definitely have a heartier and denser quality than breads with white flour. I love the taste. I wish I could say that my family loves it; at times, I think they rather tolerate it. Regardless, they eat it.

So, we began the morning with banana chocolate chip muffins which started out like this:

And then I added a few things including coconut oil, some eggs from May Tree Farm, some wildflower honey, raw milk from Milky Way Dairy and a smidgen of home-made vanilla. The result was quite tasty. Banana chocolate chip muffins are a fav around here.

I then started on tortillas. Fresh tortillas made with hard red wheat are utterly amazing. Absolutely the best, hands down. The wheat imparts a slightly nutty flavor so they are much tastier than their white flour counterparts. And I can honestly say, the tortillas are a huge hit with everyone in the family. Even son who is quite picky.

I recently caught an episode of Cooking for Real on Food Network and was inspired to make chicken flautas and corn pudding. And because we 1) needed a green, and, unfortunately, jalepenos don't count and 2) have an abundance of summer zucchini, I cooked up some calabacitas (minus the corn). The meal was bit heavy and cheesy but wonderful nontheless. Kinda like me, huh? I pressured the chicken before adding it to the seasonings, I gotta say, it was amazing. Great flavor. Such a grand meal. Actually, three grand meals as there were plenty of leftovers. The kind that you actually want to eat.

After dinner, I whipped up a batch of home made granola and popped a loaf of bread into the oven. It had been rising all day. Love the smell of baking bread. Unfortunately, I've been having some bread difficulties lately. I generally do 3 rises. Upon entering the oven, the bread looks perfect. But it seems to fall a bit while baking. This has happened to the past 3 or 4 loaves. Any ideas why this is happening?

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. ~Voltaire

Random thoughts:

* Just finished Hamlet for Kids with son. He loved it! We read it over 2 nights though it could easily be finished in one reading. At the end of the first reading, he begged for more. I tend to not be a fan of dumbed down literature for kids but the essence of the original was truly captured. It is a challenging read-a-long which allows for awesome discussion. Son loved the treachery and the murders. And in his beautiful 8 year old way, he became all shy and smiley when Hamlet and Ophelia were together.

* Have been getting inspiration from these library books:
Altered Books Workshop
New Directions in Altered Books
Alter This
Mixed-Media Journals

* Finished Impulse. Began Burned. Loving the books but I'm getting sooooooo tired of turning pages. Ellen Hopkins, I would never alter one of your books. Well, on second thought, maybe. The size would make an adorable little treasure chest. For my crank.

Yarn Play

2009-06-23T16:13:00.006-04:00

Lest you think I've not been crafty at all, here's a pic of a work in progress.

This is from Leigh Radford's AlterKnits Felt. I've been searching for the perfect Christmas stocking for a few years. I swooned upon seeing this version. Though you can't tell much from the pic, the end result is quite Dr. Seuss-esque. This particular stocking is the 2nd of 4. It's for my husband. Gotta love a man who chooses pink for his Christmas stocking, huh?

The yarn is Handpainted Yarn, quite possibly my favorite yarn. It felts amazingly well and is so insanely soft. I am crazy addicted to this yarn. I must have 40 skeins of this stuff in my stash. Seriously.

What I'm reading:
Impulse, Ellen Hopkins
Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan

Read a longs:
In Grandma's Attic, Arleta Richardson

Random thoughts:

Calla lillies are in bloom. Breathtaking. I carried calla lillies at my wedding. Striking contrast against my black wedding dress. Yes, I said black.

My house is nice and clean these days. And I'm caught up on all the laundry. Don't hate me.

School is out for the neighboring children so my kids have been playing with them considerably. More interaction = more squabbles. It's inevitable. This mama pretty much has a work-it-out-on-your-own attitude. Most of the time, they do. Sometimes, it's more painful for them. At what point do you intervene in squabbles among your children and their friends? If anyone knows the answer to this, please let me know.

Made a few inquiries and found much cheaper rates on our health insurance. Saved us $300 a month. That's a lotta yarn. Woo-Hoo!!!

good wife. bad daughter.

2009-06-22T21:34:00.006-04:00

Yesterday was father's day. We had a relaxing day. Church, followed by lunch at one of husband's fav restaurants and an afternoon of hanging out. Husband took a nice leisurely nap, a gift in itself, as naps are somewhat of an anomaly around here with our active and loud kids. Yes, I know, they get it honest. I'm loud. My relatives are loud. My kids are loud. There's no escaping it.

Husband requested a peanut butter cake for father's day. And he specifically requested a Rebecca Moon peanut butter cake. Exact words. Rebecca Moon is baker extraordinaire. Husband once had a piece of her peanut butter cake and it was forever embedded in his memory. In the past, I have tried to replicate said cake. Didn't happen. Now, it was a tasty cake but it was not a Rebecca Moon cake. So, while husband was napping, daughter and I baked.

Again, a tasty cake but just a bit off. Of course, I know that this is a direct result of my inability to methodically follow a recipe. I'm arrogant enough to think that I can take a tried and true recipe and improve on it. If this cake is good, then I can make it better. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. This time, it didn't. The chocolate sauce on top was an afterthought and ended up being quite good. It was a mixture of agave nectar and dark cocoa. A for effort. Good wife.

Fast forward to just before midnight. I'm laying in bed reading Impulse as I'm on a huge Ellen Hopkins jag right now. And it hits me.....I didn't call my own father. On Father's Day. Bad daughter. Bad, bad daughter.

Small Blessings

2009-06-20T13:49:00.000-04:00

Today, husband decided to check out a class on working with concrete at our local home improvement superstore. Cause we all know that after one class, he'll surely be another Fu-Tung Cheng and next week I'll have the most amazing concrete countertops and floors like Splatgirl and then I can sit back and relax in my new concrete Japanese soaking tub and breathe in the splendor that is my dream house.

While husband was studying the intricacies of concrete pouring, I engaged in food play. Earlier in the morning, I picked up some strawberries at the farmer's market (so much for the food challenge, huh?). As son and daughter were chowing down on strawberries, I spotted this in the refrigerator:

Does anyone else love this like I do? It's organic so you can, without guilt, eat a little. By "a little" I mean the entire jar. Fresh strawberries + organic nutella =

And, of course, everything looks better with a sprig of fresh mint.

The highlight of our day was hanging out with husband's family. Can I just say...my in-laws are very fun people. There's always lots of laughter and tom foolery. Take husband's nephew, Josh, for instance. How many guys will let you taze them just for the sake of amusement. I mean, how cool is that?

We also have two new little guys in the family: Wyatt and Cal, sons of husband's young nieces. Such beautiful, sweet little blessings. Oh, how my ovaries ache when I hold those babies. I'm very proud to say that both Wyatt and Cal are boob men, exclusively breastfed. It's so awesome to be around nursing mamas and their babes. Here's a pic of Wyatt and Cal. Don't worry, they aren't nursing in this pic. It's been a long time since great-grandmother, Shelby, lactated.

Big Score

2009-06-19T15:38:00.000-04:00

After a breakfast of yougurt, strawberries and homemade granola, the kids and I piled into the car to do some Friday morning yard saleing. Having done this before many, many times, daughter packs up some grapes for the trek. It could be a l-o-n-g morning.

First stop.....jackpot. I love it when this happens.

36 pair of knitting needles: 9 bamboo, 12 aluminum, 9 plastic

a boye and a denise interchangeable set

an assortment of crochet hooks

a lovely set of 12 brittany black walnut hooks

I can hear gasps of wonderment from hookers across the land. Beautiful hooks, for sure.

Of course, being an obsessive knitter, I need none of this. I'm quite partial to addi circs and, occassionaly, Knit Picks Harmony needles. I recently volunteered to teach a fall knitting class for teens at my local library so the sticks will be very useful. I can give them away. The lot was $10. Quite a bargain, huh?

And, if that weren't enough, check out these Frye zipper boots. Not to be confused with the Florsheim zipper boot. Never worn and, wouldn't you know it, just husband's size. I love Frye boots and these are crafted in the USA. And they set me back $10.

Enough rambling. Time to be a good mama and clean my gritty floors. Any good scores for you lately?

The Challenge

2009-06-18T16:42:00.000-04:00

I'm such a voyeur. Time to dive in and expose myself. A bit freaky but, here goes.....

After reading Molly's blog, I was inspired to take her grocery challenge. Well, at least a modified version thereof. The gist is pretty much no grocery shopping for a week; get creative and eat what's in the pantry, fridge, etc. In many ways, we are such suburban eaters. Our cravings dictate our meals. Er... MY cravings dictate our meals. I should derive some reward from being the primary cook, right?

On Monday, I assessed our food stockpile and planned a menu for the week. Monday was chicken picatta, mashed potatoes, green beans and steamed broccoli w/ lemon butter sprinkled with slivered almonds. YUM. Tuesday, I blackened some tuna, pressure cooked a pot of cuban black beans, baked some brown rice, and steamed more broccoli. Wednesday, we ate leftover black beans and rice, one of my favorite meals. Earlier today, I made a batch of rolls and pressured some chicken to use in a chicken salad.

Only a few days into the challenge but we are eating pretty darn good around here. Now, time for my confession: I did go to the store today and picked up a few items. Very few: bananas, grapes, onions, brown rice, black beans, yougurt and toilet paper. The need for toilet paper prompted the trip and could not be denied. At least, not at this point in time. I'll share my trials with family cloth another time. Maybe. Anyway, for me, this was a huge reduction in grocery shopping as I normally just buy whatever I want.

Can't wait to see what the rest of the week's meals look like. I see some curious combinations on the horizon.