joining the club

I have seen numerous posts on Pinterest lately (the place I waste inordinate amounts of time looking at pretty things) on repurposeing men's button up shirts into girlie dresses. My hubby has had a Tommy Hilfiger shirt for ages that I bought for him at Goodwill. It was short sleeved and an absolute pain to iron! The cuffs on the sleeves loved to do all sorts of wacky escapades in the washer leaving me with a headache at the ironing board. It is lovely soft fabric, so I decided to make a dress for my youngest. She is a clothes horse and welcomes any addition to her wardrobe. That comes in handy when I want to experiment. Anyway, after much dreaming and scheming, I came up with a design and made it up today. She immediately declared it beautiful (because of the rose made out of the shirt's collar) and wanted to "wear it the rest of the day." I think it turned out pretty cute!

For the love of Arti

Does your family have a favorite veggie? Our top choice is artichokes (thanks to my mom, who fed them to me for as long as I can remember). I vaguely remember LIKES ARTICHOKES being one of the items on my eligible husband list. Seriously, these spikey veggies are important to me. Anyway, I am so thrilled that my kiddos love them as much as I do. They are on sale now since it is the end of artichoke season and I have a pot of them on the stove right now. How do we cook them? Boil them! It is so tremendously easy, and contrary to popular food tv shows, you do not have to work on them with a fancy knife for half an hour before cooking. They taste the same if you leave the leaves in tact. Imagine that!

While I am on the subject of nostalgic food, I made a Lazy Wife Cake this week. I got the recipe for this from a friend who lived in the jungle in eastern Bolivia. She baked hers in a wood-burning oven, which I do not possess, but it is delicious nonetheless. I love it because it is milkless and eggless, so I don't have to worry about having those on hand. It should have a better name; as I do not consider myself to be a lazy wife, but I love how easy it is!
And that concludes my food musings for the day!

One of those fun days

I homeschool my three daughters and we have more fun with each passing year. I started off five years ago on a strict singular curriculum path. We somehow trudged through four years of that! I have to thank my good friend, Kim, for opening my eyes to the literal world of possibilities out there. I was able to get most of our curriculum for free this year and just added bits and pieces that my kids needed. It is so liberating! We have really enjoyed this year. Of course, there will always be math and the ever present moans associated with it, but they love it when I say, "Let's just do four of those problems together and then you can be done."
Anyway, I am not a huge science person, but have been  inspired by some simple experiments I found on Pinterest. So today we tackled the reaction of baking soda and vinegar and how they will blow up a balloon attached to a bottle. So many giggles and screams, let me tell ya! It was hilarious! We had to do it twice since they had so much fun. That is my kind of experiment!
Art Tuesday was making pipe cleaner chameleons (like Pascal in Tangled), which my girls have worn clipped to their shoulders ever since.

Did you know that the first Olympics were around the same time as Jonah's digestive trip and subsequent vacation in Ninevah?

special day 12 years ago

Twelve years ago today, my hubby called me (yes, on the phone) to propose. With many giggles and butterflies, I said yes. I had only known him less than four months, but I suppose as the adage goes: When you know; you know. I remember meeting him and thinking how rude and aloof he was socially. You know that enormous list we have as single women that we think our Mr. Right should fulfill in every aspect? I learned to chuck that out the window and trust in God to do better for me than I could do for myself. I found in my fiance a man who may have been rough around the edges, but he had a very sincere heart. And that, my friends, is what counts.
Eleven weeks later we were married. I would love to say that it has been all rosey and fun, but I cannot. We have been through the trenches of life that have helped us to grow in many ways. Though I may dream of Mr. Darcy romanticism, I am content with a strong, stable man; because I am secure with him. I am thankful for bad decisions, wrong turns, misguided paths, and extreme frustrations because we work through them together.

So, my return to blogging is dedicated to my dear hubby as we look forward to our 12th anniversary in May. I love you!!!!