Archive for February 2010
I’ve been doing this little blog here for a while now and have truly loved it. This past week I have struggled with feeling uninspired and overwhelmed. I’m sure it has to do with being super busy and having a hugely long to do list that is just not getting done. I’m going to take a few days off here in this space and try to get things sorted out at home. I’m hoping this will free up the creative spot in my brain that is being crushed at the moment. I will miss you while I am gone, but I believe I will be able to come back more organized and calm and ready to go.
I plan on popping in next Tuesday and then being back in full force by the end of next week. I just need a little time to take care of my family, my home, the kids schooling and my tired brain. Thank you to everybody who stops by and especially to those who leave comments, I still have a hard time believing why anybody would take the time to come by, but I do appreciate it.
Have a wonderful week and I’ll see you next Tuesday.
family, home • Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 • 23 Comments »
Recently I won a little giveaway over at jennyflower, and it arrived yesterday. Look at all those goodies. I knew about the book and the card, isn’t it gorgeous? I will have lots of fun going through the book and trying my hand at ribbon embroidery, and look at the extras.
My two girls love the hair pretties. The babe grabbed them all in her chubby little hands and started patting her head (what she does when she wants something in her hair). They are all hand crocheted or stitched and they are gorgeous, what a lovely little surprise. Also the fact that the book was wrapped in fabric was so exciting to me. Now I have some pretty new fabrics to work with and I think I know just what they will end up as.
Thanks Jennyflower, it was such a treat. If you aren’t familiar with Jennyflower,you should definitely pop on over, she is such a sweet gal and does beautiful work.
On a side note, my brother leaves today, we had a really nice time with him, and will miss him. The rest of our week should be fairly normal and back to our routine, though I’m hoping for some better weather as it would be really nice to have the kids play outside some. The problem with winter here is that it gets really windy. The cold wouldn’t be so bad by itself, but the wind can be brutal. Most of the time it is too much for the kids to go out, or dry clothes on the line, they just get whipped off, so I am really looking forward to warmer, less windy days.
I am making good progress on my crochet project and hope to have it finished next week. Also, I am trying to decide on what our one small change for March will be. Oh, and we have to take our eldest to the dentist again as he needs another repair on his braces (second one in one week), which is a bit of a pain as it is so far away. So maybe it won’t be such a normal week after all.
books, gifts, sewing • Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 • 6 Comments »
Much of this past weekend was enjoying a wedding and all that it involved. My brother flew into town and we are very much enjoying his company as well. I was thrilled to be asked to do the flowers for the wedding so I thought I would share some pictures of them with you all.
All four of my kiddos were in the wedding, and the girls each carried one of these. The brides bouquet above went perfectly with her gorgeous bronze dress. It’s been a while since I’ve done flowers for any type of event, but it was a lot of fun. All of the flowers were faux, as they were done in advance, but nowadays there are such pretty, convincing faux flowers that it was near impossible to tell.
We had a great weekend, hope you all did too.
family, gifts • Monday, February 22nd, 2010 • 15 Comments »
Dreaming of warmer days as we are under lots of snow and ice and cold, grey days.
Have a great weekend!
nature • Saturday, February 20th, 2010 • 7 Comments »
I’m starting a new crochet project. It’s one that I’m really not sure if I’m going to love it in the end, but I think I am so I’m jumping in. Worst case scenario, I rip it all out and use the yarn for something else. Either way, I’ll definitely show you when it is finished and more than likely ask you all for your opinions, unless I decide I can’t stand it already. Vague, I know, sorry.
Super excited as today my brother flies into town. We haven’t seen him in a while and we are all so excited to get a couple of days with him. The kids really can’t wait.
Also, it’s a winter wonderland out there again. It’s been snowing since the day before yesterday, and we got a lot through the night. Right now it’s beautiful and untouched, but soon it will be a big dirty, slushy mess, ugh. I am so ready for spring. I’ve received two seed catalogs in the mail the last couple of days and I’m really looking forward to the weather warming up and us getting back to being able to grow some food and flowers.
I’d better run, I’ve got a house to tidy, some food to make and of course lots of snuggles to give. Hope you guys have a great Friday.
crochet • Friday, February 19th, 2010 • 15 Comments »
Wherever I can, I like to make cooking supper easier, especially as the hour right before always seems to be when things start falling apart. One of my tricks is to make a huge batch of spaghetti sauce at the beginning of the week. Then I can use it for several different meals and part of the work is already done.
Friday night is our pizza/movie night so I use the sauce for that. I also can then use it for spaghetti or some other kind of pasta bake such as lasagna. If I know I won’t be able to use it all, then it freezes really well, so I can always freeze portions of it for another time.
Spaghetti sauce is also a great way to use up some other bits of veg as well. Sometimes I cook up some ground turkey too. I saute onions, and often peppers and mushrooms when I make my sauce. I chop them up pretty small and the kids don’t really notice them, especially if it is on the pizza. It’s not really a recipe as such, but I got the method from my sister-in-law.
First I chop up and saute an onion (and whatever other veg I want) and then sprinkle some dried oregano and basil, and let it saute until the veg is soft. Next I add a 102 ounce can of crushed tomatoes. Stir it up really well and add a sprinkle of sugar and some salt and pepper. Taste and adjust. If it tastes too acidic, you need a little bit more sugar. Feel free to experiment, it is fairly forgiving. Let it simmer a while and taste again, and there you go. Delicious sauce and part of your cooking for the week just got easier.
What are some of your timesaving/ multitasking foods?
family, food • Thursday, February 18th, 2010 • 9 Comments »
Sorry I missed everybody yesterday. About a week ago, the babe started waking up between 3-4 in the morning and wasn’t able to go back to sleep right away. This left me up for an hour or so in the middle of the night, every night for a while. When she finally was able to sleep through again, I wasn’t. I would wake up on the dot at 3:00am and be wide awake for an hour.
My senior year in college I came down with mono (and no, it wasn’t from kissing) and ever since then when I get really run down, my body has a hard time snapping out of it. A couple of days ago, I knew I was in trouble if I didn’t slow down. I couldn’t think straight, had a really hard time focusing and I couldn’t sleep even if I tried.
Yesterday, Hubby got up with the kids, took care of them while I was finally able to get some extra sleep. Then when I was up, the babe fell asleep in my lap, which never happens any more, so I was able to sit in a chair for two hours and work on some crochet. Hubby made lunch so I could rest, and I even stayed in my pj’s all day. I drank copius amounts of tea and cocoa to keep myself fortified, and basically did nothing but rest, and it turns out it is just what I needed.
I’m feeling better, still slightly tired, but ready to face the rest of the week.
family • Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 • 12 Comments »
I wear my shoes until they have no more umph left in them, which is typically for years. This past fall is when my fall/spring shoes finally expired. Over the winter I’ve just worn my boots so haven’t really needed to find new ones, though somewhere in the distance I can see spring popping up.
I’m not a huge fan of shoe shopping, I can never seem to find exactly what I want/need for the kind of price I’m looking for. I need practical shoes, but let’s face it, I want them to look cute too. My mom and I went to the thrift store on Saturday and I was pretty happy to see these. They were all in my size, practically brand new, and the perfect price. So for a mere $13 bucks, I am 3 pairs of shoes richer.
These are my favourites. I just love them.
On a side note, do you remember my granny square laptop cover? I love the cover, but I just haven’t grown to love the colours, so I have decided to sell it. It holds a 13" MacBook perfectly (not really sure about PC laptop sizing, sorry) and I’m selling it for $35 plus actual shipping. If anyone is interested, please e-mail me at jennifer@theprairiegirl.com.
Hope everybody had a great weekend. We’ve got a busy week here, and my brother is coming into town at the end of the week, yeah!
green, thrift store finds • Monday, February 15th, 2010 • 18 Comments »
Our little guy looks so much older now, well except for his super cute dimples. He was such a trooper and so far is pretty excited about his braces. At this point he only has three brackets so he opted for light blue, dark blue, and glow in the dark. We’ve got tylenol and smoothies standing by.
I hope you guys all have a great weekend and a great Valentine’s day.
family • Saturday, February 13th, 2010 • 8 Comments »
We drive 45 minutes away to go the kid’s dentist. We had a really bad experience with the one here in town several years ago and won’t take our kids to see him. Anyway, it’s a nice little drive and I thought I’d share some of the views.
nature, travelling • Friday, February 12th, 2010 • 15 Comments »
