A Blur

This past week has been a blur!

I have so many crafting projects stuck mid way to completion, the laundry needs to be done, I can't stay ahead of the toy mess, and the list goes on and on.

I feel as though it's been forever (even though it's only been a few days) since I last checked in so I thought I would say a short hello between play groups and sewing.

I'm making a birthday cake this weekend for a little girl's 3rd birthday! so that is also going to take up some time over the next few days. I can't wait to show a picture of the finished product! It should be super cute (provided everything works the way I want it to!).

And since a post is not complete without a picture...

(I don't see him like this very often anymore... so sweet!)

Happy Thursday!

Musical Monday: Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues

I love Johnny Cash.

Pipe-cleaner Jewelry

Zac loves to craft!

I bought some pipe-cleaners and beads the other day and he had the time of his life making jewelry!

I tried to encourage him to make a bracelet, but he insisted on a necklace... it's a good thing his neck wasn't any bigger!!

He was pretty proud of his creation!

A Gentleman's Tea Party

My boys love a good tea party.

They have a little friend, a girl, who has a tea set and whenever we go over to her house they can almost always be found in the kitchen seated together having a little party of their own.

It kind of mortifies my mister...

So when Zac asked to have a tea party the other day the hubs man'd up the occasion.

They dressed up in suits and ties and I believe Zac was pretending to serve beer, not tea.

It was too cute!

(complete with tatoos of course)

They had a great time!

Knitting

When I was little my grandmother taught me how to knit.

Every summer growing up my brothers and I would each take an individual vacation to my grandparents for a week of fun and goodies with our grandma & pa all to ourselves.

They would always try to cater our visits so that we did things each of us liked that we wouldn't necessarily get to do if the entire family had come along.

We'd go to the wave pool, the museum... grandma and I would bake... and I remember one year I asked her to teach me to knit.

I'm not quite sure what happened, but somewhere along life's way since then I put down the knitting needles and never picked them up again... until now that is!

Trouble is... I couldn't remember a thing about knitting!

Taking the advice of some friends I sat down with my knitting needles, yarn and YouTube and am back on track!

Seriously, what did we ever do without YouTube?!?

I have a couple of friends that are facing the same dilemma of knitting forgetfulness so I thought I'd share the video I found most helpful.

I'd probably stop watching around 2 1/2 minutes in, it gets a little boring after that... but the first part is really clear and, so far, the best instructions I've been able to find online.

or if you'd rather read the instructions, go here!

I also found this site which is full of free videos that are pretty helpful.

I have so many projects planned in my head now for my little knitting needles!

Time to practice, practice, practice!!

Homemade Mac & Cheese

Homemade Mac and Cheese is one of my all time favourite meals.

It's one of those meals though, that is never as good when you make it for yourself as it is when someone makes it for you.

I decided to try my hand at it again (after many failed attempts) a little while ago and I was so happy with the outcome!

I've been thinking about it ever since!

Homemade Mac & Cheese

8oz macaroni

2-3 tbsp butter

1/4 cups flour

2 cups milk

2 cups grated cheese (I used half cheddar and half mozzarella)

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

1/2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup grated cheese

Preheat oven to 350 & grease your baking dish (mine was 1.4L).

Cook the macaroni until just underdone or "al dente" if you want to get fancy!

Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour, cook about 1-2 minutes then slowly whisk in milk until there are no lumps. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened. Remove from heat and add first amount of grated cheese, stir until the cheese is completely melted. Add your macaroni to the cheese sauce and season to your liking with salt and pepper.

Pour the cheese covered pasta into your baking dish.

Combine the bread crumbs, olive oil and second amount of grated cheese and sprinkle on top of the pasta.

Bake for 10 minutes or so until the topping is all crunchy and delicious looking.

DIG IN!!!

Musical Monday: Sesame Street!!

I'm lightening the mood today with a little Sesame Street!!

And before you explode from excitement I feel I should warn you that I've included not one, but TWO songs for your viewing pleasure today!

Happy Monday!

French Macaroons

I love mommy moments that involve cookies and coffee.

Really does life get any better?

I was on the fence about my opinion of french macaroons for a while... they just look so lovely but they didn't taste at all like I was expecting.

That being said, I have finally made my decision on these cookies.

I love them.

I love them too much... see those green ones up in the first pic? yah, I ate the entire batch in 24 hours... sick, I know, but true.

I did share some with the boys, but Zac totally had to beg for one. Even after the begging, I was still hesitant in giving him one because I knew that meant I also needed to sacrifice one to Eli... yep, I'm that mom.

The mom that puts my need for sweets above my children's needs for sweets. I tell myself it will make them a better person if I eat all their goodies for them. That they'll grow up wanting apples and oranges while I hide in the bathroom with the cookie jar stuffing my face...

mmmm... I do so love my sweets!

The recipe I used for the green macaroons can be found here & the recipe I used for the white ones can be found here. Try them both! They're both great recipes.

Dinosaur Shirt

After reading this last week, I couldn't wait to make the boys up some applique'd shirts!

I didn't hand stitch the dinosaur on as suggested in the original post, but instead took it to my machine.

I thought it would take less time... which I think it did, however I don't think it make the task any easier!

I love how it turned out and Zac was all over the shirt with excitement thanking me over and over for making it for him.

Trouble is, the shirt is too small... so no pictures of him wearing the final product I'm afraid.

The shirt was tight enough that I had a slight fear of being judged for putting it on him!

It will wait, all folded and ready in a closet for when it will fit Eli... then you will see it modeled by an adorable little boy!

Shop Update

Well, it took longer then I had planned and hopped for but I've finally listed 3 robot softies in my shop!

The red guy on the end, with the checkered legs, is my favorite I think... but they are all equally soft and squishy and ready for the love of a little one!

Hide and Seek

We played hide and seek...

bet you can't guess where the boys hid!

Complete with loud "sssshhhh"'s!

These boys...

they just make me laugh...

Chalkboard Thought Bubble

I have wanted a chalkboard thought bubble since the day I first saw them.

The trouble is I'm a bit of a penny pincher and couldn't justify the price when shipping was factored in.

I kept trying to justify spending the money: it was something I'd really wanted for a long time... they're really not expensive, it would simply be SO much fun... but I knew the hubbs would die if I told him I bought one.

So I decided the time had come for me to make my very own!

I used some drywall scraps that we had laying around from our bathroom redo and covered it in paper mache to hold in the dust. I then painted it with my chalkboard paint and voila!

Not as nice, I'm sure, as if I had bought one but this one was FREE!

And I loooooove it!!

Musical Monday: Mercy Me - I Can Only Imagine

I have always loved this song but, honestly, don't think of it very often.

A few weeks ago a close friend of my mother's passed away and when my mom was telling me about the funeral she mentioned that this song was sung.

I haven't been able to get it out of my head since!

Coloring

Coloring...

It's serious stuff...

Robots

This is Eli.

Eli loves Robots.

I had been planning for some time to make him a plush robot since he loves them so much.

I wanted him to be able to snuggle up with a nice cuddly soft guy instead of the usual hard plastic ones.

Last week I finally buckled down, made up a pattern and sewed both boys their own "bot"s.

I was thrilled that he loved him as much as I hoped he would!

They cuddled on the couch,

Eli taught him his dinosaurs...

(remember this book?)

and they watched a movie together...

I was so excited to see that he toted that little robot everywhere with him for most of the day and refused to go to bed without him.

Zac loved his too!

I'm currently making up more of these cozy little guys for my shop.

I'm hoping to have a bit of a shop "restock" sometime next week!

I'll be sure to give a heads up though, so stay tuned!!

Embrace the Camera: A Puzzle

Zac is really into puzzles these days and I think it's so much fun!!

We bought him a special new one yesterday so we could change it up a bit.

The 3 we have have been made and remade so many times I can recite my directions for putting it together with my eyes closed!

I love how proud of himself he always is when it's completed!!

Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Loaf

You should make this.

You should make this today.

It's so good!

Really... it will make your entire day to eat this!

Cranberry, Chocolate Chunk Loaf

2 cups flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup dried cranberries, chopped

2 squares (2 oz) semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped

Mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre.

Combine eggs, butter, buttermilk and vanilla and mix. Add to flour mixture and stir until almost combined. Add in cranberries and chocolate hunks, finish stirring until mixture is just combined.

Topping

1/8 cup rolled oats

1 tbsp brown sugar

a sprinkle of cinnamon

Combine all topping ingredients and then sprinkle over the loaf.

Bake at 350 for 40-55 minutes until a tester comes out clean.

YUM!

*recipe has been adapted from a Company's Coming original recipe*

Those Cheeks!

I could just kiss this face off!

He has a bit of a black eye in this picture, but it doesn't change those cheeks!

OH those cheeks!! just begging to be smothered in kisses!!

Musical Monday: Ray LaMontagne - Trouble

Another one of my 1... or 2-am songs.

Ah, Ray... he's becoming a staple in my life!

Bubble Tea

A few months ago I had a huge hankering for bubble tea.

It's something that I hadn't had for years and could not get where I currently live.

I couldn't remember how it tasted, I couldn't buy it to remind myself and I couldn't get it out of my head!

Last week while my brother in law and his fiance were visiting, she surprised me with the awesome gift of bubble tea supplies!!

It was so much fun! I really do love the stuff.

What is bubble tea you ask? Well it's a super fun milky tea drink with tapioca pearls in the bottom of your glass! You drink it cooled and with a straw so you get a fun tapioca ball surprise randomly as you drink!!

Could sound gross... could sound interesting... however it sounds to you, it's totally fantastic and you should try it!

and to make the whole experience that much better, she brought coloured tapioca balls!!

...tapioca balls really are nasty looking... but ooooh sooooo good!

Coconut Macaroons

Zac loves to bake!

I think he asks to make something 3-4 times a week.

In prep for our visitors last week we decided it would be fun to make cookies.

I've been searching for recipes with a really small number of ingredients so that Zac could do almost all of the work.

Coconut macaroons are now "Zac's Speciality" and they're super yummy on top of that!

This recipe doesn't make a huge amount but it is easily doubled. I made a second batch and put butterscotch chips in them and they were to.die.for!

Seriously, doooo iiiitt!!

Coconut Macaroons

2 cups shredded coconut (if doubled, 2 bags of shredded coconut)

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk (if doubled, you can just use the whole can of condensed milk)

Preheat oven to 325.

Mix coconut and flour together in a large bowl. Add vanilla and condensed milk and mix well.

Place spoonfuls onto a greased (or parchment lined) cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown!

I love that hubby was able to get a few shots of us making these together as baking together is becoming such a big part of our lives!

Forgotten Laughs

I often scroll through all my pictures on the computer.

It's something I love doing because, as I take a huge amount of pictures, there's always at least one I had forgotten taking.

I stumbled across these last night and have not stopped chuckling all day about them.

You do need to know that I had nothing to do these.

I went to the washroom, walked back into my living room to find Eli had some how dressed himself in this fun little get up.

He stood there, watching his movie completely unfazed and unaware of how he looked or anything going on around him.

Cheese!!

Happy Wednesday!

A Cake

The last week or so of February flew by in a blur.

Looking back I can't even recall what events happened and on which days.

We got a bucket of snow, had house guests, got more snow, spent 2 days in St John's (3.5 hours away), drove and drove and drove in the van. And somewhere in there I made a cake for a special little girl celebrating her 1st birthday.

Whew! I'm hoping March moves a bit slower and I'm able to get all kinds of stuff done in my sewing room.

I have a looooong list to get started on!