Architect at Home

Friendship Braclets

2010-06-21T02:55:00.000-07:00

K and I had bit of time waiting for E at ballet a couple weeks ago. In the toy store I was intrigued by little octagonal looms which were being sold as party favors or party crafts. Fast forward a week and these looms show up at GS Day Camp. As it was a wet week, the girls had a lot of time to learn the craft of weaving Friendship Bracelets. For E these could easily replace pot holders as her favorite thing to weave.

E's Smocked Dress

2010-03-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

E's smocked dress got its start years ago when after I made the girls' first smocked dresses. I thought that it would be nice to make one for myself. 5 years later I hadn't got the job done and E's dresses were getting too small and wearing out. As the fabric was just E's colors and already pleasted, I smocked it for her instead.

As is in the past, the dress has generous tucks to allow for growth. This dress will easily go from being worn with long sleeved t's to a cool summer dress.

Don't go looking for a plate for the smocking. I plotted it myself as I couldn't easily locate smocking plates in KC.

K's Smocked Dress

2010-03-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

About a year ago K was lamenting the fact that she had out grown all of her smocked dresses. I felt inspired and off we went to purchase fabric. The sales woman at the time commented that the fabric would make a very cheery winter dress. I knew that I would never have the dress finished to wear that winter but hoped for a summer dress. Not! I shipped the fabric off to New York to be pleated and got it back in April to start the smocking process.

The smocking on this dress was a modification of the smocking we had done on one of their previous dresses. As I felt that it needed a couple more rows of smocking than the previous dress I add the hearts on the bottom and elongated the pattern to add the center chain.

I am please that this dress has generous tucks for growth and easily goes from summer to winter with the addition of a long sleeved T.

(Note: This is the first of the 5 dresses I made late last year. Though belated, I did want to share them.)

More Pot Holders Galore

2010-03-07T18:03:00.000-08:00

Pot holders and more pot holder are what the kids are making. My new banner shows just 5 of over 50 they have made in the last 5 months. I have much enjoyed watching their evolution from a basic free-for-all to carefully planned pattern and color stories.

A Head Start on Christmas

2010-02-20T04:23:00.000-08:00

What started my jam making all off was blog posst on making orange marmalade last year this time. K and I both like marmalade and I thought that if others are doing it so could I.

It took me a while to gather together the right equipment so I really got started in early summer with strawberry jam. In the back of my head my ultimate goal was orange marmalade. This was the thought that propelled me through the holidays.

Once January hit I got cold feet. Seville oranges and Meyer lemons though available in Kansas City are extremely expensive. Most of the recipes I found did not use pectin. Could I do this?

Finally I grabbed Martha Stewart's recipe that had gotten a good review last year, bought regular naval oranges and lemon, and got to zesting.

The first two batches I made I experimented with quantities of oranges. The recipe calls for 8 oranges. I had smallish oranges so I used 11. The next batch I had large oranges and use 6. I most likely over cooked slightly both batches. Martha says to cook the jam to 220 - 222 degrees. At that point the jam should not spread when dropped onto a frozen plate. Well it did spread. I cooked it to about 224-225 degrees. At that point it not only did the drop not spread but it held it's shape when pushed and had a slight film per the recipe. The results, however, yielded a jam that was more solid than I would like.

In my final batch I substituted orange juice for the water and cooked the jam to approximately 223 - 224 degrees. The jam held its shape when pushed but did not have a film. This yielded a "perfect" consistancy. I am as of yet undecided about the orange juice. There is definitely that added "umph" but time will tell whether I want to try adding orange juice again.

I must say that at this point I am feeling pretty good. It is the middle of February and I am 25 jars of jam closer to ready being ready for Christmas.

Photo Album Season Complete

2010-02-15T03:06:00.000-08:00

Spread out on the floor, watching the Olympics, the kids and I stuck down the last of our 2009 pictures. This year once I had labeled and sorted by album, I turned the responsibility of personal albums over to the kids. Photos that I had carefully sorted chronologically were regrouped by theme, themes that will make the owners smile years down the line.

Looking back at my 2009 goals, I realize that I am reaping the rewards of my work last year. Only having a years worth to process goes so much faster. I am ready to go on to other things...making back packs, quilts and home repair.

Creative Self Discipline

2010-01-20T02:49:00.000-08:00

Boy is that hard. All around me I see great ideas and opportunities for things to create. There are quilt-alongs that I am dying to join and knitting classes I would like to take. But....I am trying very hard to complete the projects I have on my shelves, in my basement and attic. It is taking my upmost self control to resist the temptation of starting something new.

Just a Little Off

2010-01-09T04:19:00.000-08:00

This week has thrown me off.

Everyone has been sick at one point or another. This combined with extreme cold and the ever piling up snow has kept us confined to our house.

It appears that the cold water pipe going to the kitchen and particularly to the dishwasher has a tendency in sub 10 degree temps. Consequently we have cabinet doors, drawers, and the dishwash all open.

Then, someone decided to break into our van yesterday. They broke the back passenger side window. We can't figure it out why they picked that window as they then had to climb in and over child booster seats to get access to anything. Lucky for us, we know our neighborhood and don't keep anything of value in our vehicles.

To top it all off, I went back to the office for the first time in three weeks...

My head is swimming with all the things that I need to do both at work and at home.

Taking Care of Myself

2010-01-07T03:18:00.000-08:00

A stomach virus has been going through our house. Nothing serious but it is slowing people down for a day. Yesterday was my turn. I laid down around about 11:30 am hoping to catch a nap and shake the virus off. It soon became very obvious that a minor nap was not going to work in this case.

In the years past I have put on my face of steel, sat down at the computer and worked like always. This would be followed by our normal evening routine. Yesterday, however, I remembered all of the sick leave that I had accumulated and stayed in bed. With D home, I let him cover the rest of the day with the kids and I napped on and off.

Now morning all seems normal though I have not yet ventured downstairs for something to eat.

Can You Believe It...

2010-01-05T02:33:00.000-08:00

Not only did I finish 5 dresses but I won a $25 gift certificate from Sew Fresh Fabrics in Tallgrass Prairie Studio's Challenge! D is in disbelief. How can anything good come out of blogs? E, however, was all ready to claim the prize so that we can start her quilt.

Headed Back to Normal

2010-01-03T17:05:00.000-08:00

In church today for the first Sunday in a long time, I was able to focus on the here and now. My vacation had done what it was supposed to do. I was recharged and ready to face homeschooling and work. I cooked away the first week and a half but the last half of a week was filled with sewing (the last two dresses are complete), copying and planning for our second semester, and gearing up for my yearly photo album update.

During the last two weeks my brain slowly cleared and I realized that I needed to begin to spread my weekend tasks through out the week. I no longer have a full day on the weekend to cook, clean, and prepare for the next week.

I also came to the realization that I do not want to wait for retirement to begin to quilt. E is outgrowing her Princess quilt and D and I need one also. This year I am going to take little steps in this direction starting with making the kids quilted backpacks.

2009 Canning Report

2010-01-01T03:43:00.000-08:00

For a first year of canning I am quite pleased. I have greatly enjoyed the jam. It was fun having it available to gift in December. My stock of jam greatly cut down my Christmas season tension.

I plan on making all of the recipes again with the exception of the plain blueberry. I have found that for the most part I like the jams with a little umph. The plain blueberry jam doesn't quite have it though I will slightly cutdown the spices in the blueberry spice jam. I would do the same with the peach jam but I do have a couple of recipes that require either tomato paste or apricot jam for which I substitute the peach jam.

3 batches strawberry jam (21-1/2 pints total)
1 batch blueberry spice jam (5-1/2 pints)
1 batch blueberry jam (5-1/2 pints)
1 batch peach marmalade (9-1/2 pints)
1 batch peach jam (7-1/2 pints)
3 pints sweet cherries

I didn't get my apple butter made as I had hoped but there is always next year.

Two Dresses to Go

2009-12-29T05:52:00.000-08:00

The time is ticking down to the New Year and I still have 2 dresses to make. I could feel the tension building but our days have been full of friends, family and cooking. Finally I snuck in 2 hours yesterday and cut out E's and made the final decisions on how to line K's. This morning I made great strides in E's. I just have to attach the bodice to the skirt and then I put in the zipper. With any luck and great weather for playing in the snow, I will make my Joy in the New Year Challenge deadline.

Keep your fingers crossed!

A Christmas Blessing

2009-12-27T14:16:00.001-08:00

We got a wonderful present from E. She made custom frozen pizza to suit each one's preferences. Tonight I don't have to cook. Ahh...

Have a Quiet Christmas

2009-12-25T09:11:00.000-08:00

After a week of non-stop activity (baking, wrapping, last minute shopping, and visiting family), I am so enjoying a day where I don't have to accomplish anything except put meals on the table, easy meals at that. For me that is the ultimate present.

Merry Christmas to all!

2009 Commute Totals

2009-12-20T04:36:00.000-08:00

Friday completed my last day of work for 2009. My commuting totals are is follows:

Bike 96 (43%)

Drive 64 (29%)

Telecommute 64 (29%)

Total 224

I am quite pleased with my results with almost 75% of my commute being carbon neutral. The lion's share of the days I drove were a result of needing to go in early thus requiring the kids to come with me downtown. Weather played a relatively minor part in the driving number, only really being a factor during January, February, and December.

Let the Holiday Begin

2009-12-19T08:30:00.000-08:00

My deadline and presentation are past now I can really dig into Christmas preparations; there is much baking to complete.

We have a large bag of lemons leftover from my office's Holiday party. We are slowly removing the zest and juicing them so that we can freeze if for future Lemon Poppy Seed muffins.

Today I am testing Dinner Roll and Monkey Bread recipes in determine if these recipes will be acceptable to take with us to Grandma's for my family's Christmas. I find such test runs stressful. The kids have such high expectations. Unfortunately gluten, dairy and egg-free recipes are scarce. I resort to taking what I know and modifying it to what I hope will work. Sometimes I am successful and sometimes I am not.

Luckily the other recipes I will be using this week are tried and true so the rest of the cooking will be easier.

Invisible Zippers

2009-12-15T03:40:00.000-08:00

I never had the need to put in an invisible zipper until last spring when my Amy Butler Barcelona Skirt pattern called for one. The pattern runs small and it did not fit but I was quite impressed by how easy the zipper was to insert. Amazingly it is much more forgiving than a conventional zipper, no top stitching. Here is a great tutorial. The only thing that I would add is to only hold the zipper down 5/8" from the top. That keeps you from having to sew on a hook.

Relief in Sight

2009-12-14T03:40:00.000-08:00

This week we finish the first half of our Science curriculum for the year. We would be doing the same with English but I have decided to get a head start on a writing contest we do in January. I have yet to decide how we will spend our last two weeks of the year. There is some thought of continued working on this contest, a bit of math and Story of the World. I can really see holiday preparations, playdates and life getting in the way and thwarting that plan.

Mission Complete

2009-12-11T03:43:00.000-08:00

On the coldest day of the year, we got K a bike, 24" Specialized Hotrock, 21 speed, red and black.

I am relieved. I have been watching Craigslist for over 6 months for bikes. Granted, the first couple months were to get a feel for what was out there in this size, not much. After getting a feel for the market and identifying the type of bike we wanted there was the daily check.

Now I have 5 minutes of my morning back until L learns to ride without training wheels. At that point I promised him a "boys" bike. That though should be a piece of cake as 20" bikes are plentiful.

She's Here! She's Here!

2009-12-09T04:38:00.000-08:00

were the shouts I heard last night. For the last month and a half, we have been waiting for Eleanor's new American Girl doll, Kirsten, to make her way from Sweden to Kansas City. We know that she took a slow boat accross the Atlantic, got detained in New York at Ellis Island, and took a train across the US.

Actually she was back ordered but the above story made the wait easier.

Pot Holders Galore

2009-12-08T17:30:00.000-08:00

Come November each year our pot holder loom goes into action as the kids work hard to create presents for family and friends. Over the years I have enjoyed watching them move from highly random to designs to very deliberate and complicated designs. The additional plus is that each year I gain a potholder or two for my drawer.

Christmas Shopping or Shopping for Me?

2009-12-06T17:29:00.000-08:00

I am not a shopper. This is complicated with the fact that having the opportunity to shop with out three frequently unwilling helpers is seldom. Consequently one would question whether I do more shopping for myself or for Christmas each holiday season.

Thanksgiving Efficiencies

2009-11-27T03:01:00.000-08:00

I am a person that needs to link tasks with events so that things get done. For example, I bake almost every Sunday morning prior to church. Often we need to replenish our church brownie supply. If that is not the case I insert some other kind of bake good which we are running low on.

On Thanksgiving, I try to stick the turkey carcass in the stock pot as I am stripping the meat off of the bone after the meal. I also like to run my oven cleaning cycle while we are at the in-laws on Thanksgiving. It is a certain 4 hours that we are out of the house away from the fume. Then I am ready for Christmas baking.

Now if I could only figure out what to tie polishing my kitchen floor to...

Electronic Grocery List

2009-11-26T04:00:00.000-08:00

...almost. A couple of weeks ago D moved into the 21st century and got a cell phone, an iPhone. Being a wanta be techno-geek, he has been on the look out for great apps.

To compound this all D does 80% of our grocery shopping. For him Grocery Gadgets, an electronic grocery list app, makes a lot of sense. He has access to our grocery list anytime, anywhere. For me it doesn't make as much sense. Over the years I have developed a great master grocery list which is posted on the refridgerator for easy marking of all those items we have almost emptied. Once a week I compare it to the week's menu, the grocery ads, and makes quick run through the our kitchen and pantry to make sure there isn't anything that needs to be added. Grocery Gadgets on the computer isn't as portable. I can't easily carry the laptop it to my can shelf or dry goods storage.

After struggling for a couple of weeks and posting half complete grocery lists, we have come to the conclusion that I will continue with my paper list and periodic updates on GG. As time goes on I may come up with a better system or perhaps join D in the 21st century.

Does anyone else have experience with electronic grocery lists?

The Weatherman Says

2009-11-25T03:14:00.000-08:00

the first freeze is on the way. I picked the last of the green peppers and a mess of mesclun lettuce. As I don't have a cold frame, I covered the lettuce that I could with clear plastic containers which cakes and such come in...I think that a cold frame may be in our future if I can find some old windows.

Repurposed T-Shirts

2009-11-24T04:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I grabbed that stack of T's that I had saved from the fall clothing switch...to small or unloved to keep for another year and too stained or creatively decorated to send to another family. I quickly cut out 12 x 12 blocks of the sides that were soft enough for noses and as large as I can get out of the ones that weren't. Now we have a new stash of hankies and oil rags and L's favorite T gets to stick around for a while longer.

Another Craigslist Find

2009-11-22T02:02:00.000-08:00

With 3 kids wanting to learn to sew at exactly the same time, I had more fighting over the sewing machine than actual sewing. Growing up we had two machines, exactly the same to be exact. I spent many happy days sewing with my mom or sister, each on a machine.

I wasn't as lucky as my mom to get exactly the same machines. I have a late '70s era Kenmore 148 but I did find a similar Kenmore from the same time period for $30. At that price I can't even get my 148 cleaned and oiled.

Guess what we are doing this week...

Homeschooling the Visual Spatial Child

2009-11-18T02:47:00.000-08:00

I just knew that E would learn to read early. She was writing at 3 and knew all of her letters soon after that. We had done oodles of read alouds and she loved books. But when I started phonics at 5, she fought it. Did I have the wrong program? She hated the next one worse. She didn't like the tedium of sounding out words. We took a break and I started researching. Somewhere I stumbled on the concept of Visual Spatial learners. That was it. E's right-side of the brain dominated. She was the daughter of two creative people and was also creative. E's brain preferred to take in information in larger chunks.

Phonics was just too slow. We switched to a Whole Word approach and got out the old Dick and Jane's. (Why not? I learned quite well to read from them.) We more read alouds and through in Explode the Code for some cursory phonics. 4 1/2 years later she has just completed the entire Harry Potter series. I can't say that she knew every word she read nor could she pronounce every word she read but was able to follow the story line.

The first year or two of homeschooling were the most stressful. I was following The Well Trained Mind, a wonderful resource for homeschoolers but very left brained. I found myself repeatedly selecting a curriculum, only to reselect because it didn't work for E. Scripted programs were too slow. We needed resources which were highly visual, with lots of pictures, preferably in color, that allowed us to easily adapt. That was a tall order at the time.

Slowly we were able to find programs that worked. Today E is alittle more flexible. She preferrs but does not need pictures or colors.

For me the anxiety is starting again to rise. We will soon be needing to select new programs. We finish Book 4 of The Story of the World in the spring. Learning Language through Literature is basic, she tolerates it, but I wonder if we could be doing more. At the end of 6th grade we will also be needing to move into new math and science programs.

SNOW!!!!!

2009-11-17T04:18:00.000-08:00

Long division and reading should be no problem today.

Joy in the New Year Challenge

2009-11-15T18:04:00.000-08:00

Tall Grass Studio is having a challenge to clean out your unfinished objects so as to start the new year fresh. I committed to complete 5 projects (dresses) by the then. Luckily I have 3 weeks of vacation coming up. To date I have one finished and two well on the way.

Challenge note: I managed to include the Joy in the New Year Challenge using the instructions found on Knit 1 Blog Too.

Challenges

2009-11-15T04:57:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I went on an overnight with K's Brownie troop. The major activity planned for the weekend was zip lining. The zip lining instructor had each girl identify what their challenge would be for the session. Many it was simply to try it for the first time.

For me the challenge of the weekend was to build a fire to cook on. Our usual fire builder was not with us, so since I had observed so many times, it was my turn to give it a try. Thanks to Rebecca's firestarter technique (wads of dryer lint and petroleum jelly rolled into waxed paper, saltwater taffy style) I had a successful start.

This weekend my challenge is to figure out how to put a button on my sidebar. I could choose not to accept the challenge but I do find that the mental/physical task of figuring out how to solve such problems make me feel more alive and vibrant.

Wish me luck.

Any help out there?

Corner Grocery Stores

2009-11-14T05:16:00.000-08:00

There can't be a better asset to a neighborhood than a corner grocer. What does one do when the recipe you plan to make calls for garlic and you used the last one yesterday? I love being able to either run around the corner to You Say Tomato myself or send the kids to get one for me. Everyone there knows the kids. If I didn't send enough money, they trust us to bring it in the next time we come in. Our corner shop even is so kind as to allow me to place bulk orders through their distributor, the same distributor who I was previously driving 15 miles in 7:00 am traffic to meet their delivery truck.

Life is good.

Pre-Interview Jitters

2009-11-12T03:57:00.000-08:00

Today I am going to be part of a team of people participating in a project interview. This is a common place occurrence for many architects but I have only done so once before, many years ago. What makes this even more significant is that I will be speaking for over half of the allotted time. Generally I play a supporting role so moving to center stage is big.

You may ask, "Why this sudden shift in roles?". Who would have thought that being a Girl Scout mom could move one to a place of significance but on a Girl Scout project it does.

Wish us luck!

One Bike Down

2009-11-10T02:41:00.000-08:00

For months and months I have religiously scoured Craiglist Bike listing for a bike shop quality, used, 24", girls bike preferably with only 7 gears though 21 would be okay. (Not picky are we?) I had a few spottings but never got farther that placing an initial inquiry e-mail or telephone call with no response. Then yesterday there was a 3:09 am post of exactly the bike I wanted. I responded at 4:26 am. The seller's call came around 9:30 am. By 4:26 pm E was the proud owner of a wonderful bike.

I can only bask in the glory for so long...Now I have to score a bike with the exact same requirements for K...and find a hitch bike rack for 5 bikes.

Putting the Garden to Bed

2009-11-08T17:21:00.000-08:00

On this lovely fall afternoon I squeezed in time this afternoon to clean out the beds, plant garlic and onions, spread compost and mulch, and plant a cover crop. All that remains in the garden is some lettuce, cabbage, bok choy, and herbs. It is a relief to have that task almost complete.

The Growth of a Cookie Salesperson

2009-11-06T02:30:00.000-08:00

The first year E sold Girl Scout cookies, I had to stand beside her for every sale and nudge her to approach the next prospective customer. The next year she was a bit more independent but K had begun selling needed me to even assist in the writing. Last year E had started to approach people independently and K was holding her own. This year I only get consulted when they need to think of someone they haven't sold to. I am amazed how the girls are now able to approach perfect strangers and ask the person if they want to buy cookies. E and K have come a long ways.

Night Riding

2009-11-04T02:41:00.000-08:00

Last night at 5:30 I rode home from work with a beautiful rosy orange band of color in the west. It won't be long before it will be dark when I ride home at night. The contrast sure struck me after those summer afternoons with the blazing sun. I sure was glad that a couple weeks before I had finally figured out how to replace the batteries in my headlight and got a new rear blinker to replace the one that I lost in a bike mishap. Soon the dark and cold will most likely put an end to my bike commute for another year.

Fishy Experiment

2009-11-02T02:22:00.000-08:00

The trip to the seed store last week was really just a side trip. My real destination was the Asian market to get a fish for K's science experiment. The experiment was a simple observation activity; however, my kids made it much more. The fish became Taffy Tilapia. It talked. It gnawed on fingers. We checked out its scales and blood in the microscope. Then, when the kids were done with their observations, we ate it.

Halloween is Done for Another Year

2009-11-01T03:30:00.000-08:00

The house is strewn with candy, plastic spider rings, and werewolf teeth. There is a bowl by the door with the leftovers from last night's Trick or Treat offerings. This morning we will pack up that bowl and any other candy that we don't like or can't eat and offer it to the local food pantry. The remaining candy will be gathered up to reside on top of our refrigerator for week and months on end to be dug through for a morning or bedtime treat or that fraction problem that need a little sweet help.

Fall Planting

2009-10-30T03:23:00.000-07:00

I went to the seed store last night to purchase my garlic for next year. Last year I planted grocery store garlic. They grew fine but the heads were not much larger than the cloves I planted. This year I hope with "seed" garlic the heads will be bigger. The only problem is that I am not totally sure if the garlic I got is really seed garlic. The women helping me was not the most convincing when she said that you can also eat it. I knew that but I would really like larger garlic heads.

While there I also spotted onion sets. I decided what the heck. It is a chance that they will just sit in the ground until spring and give me early green onions but it is also a chance that I could still get green onions this fall. For $1.95 I can afford the gamble.

50 Years of Serving

2009-08-31T03:16:00.000-07:00

In a moment of flurried activity yesterday as three young girls (including E) readied the alter, I glanced over at our honored guests, four Sisters of Mercy celebrating their 50th Jubilees. They weren't following along in the hymnal with the rest of the congregation but watching with great interest the proceedings on the alter. I wonder what was going on in their heads. Perhaps...how far we have come and how far we have yet to go...I love so much our older religious' wisdom and grace.

Changes

2009-08-26T02:38:00.000-07:00

D is crazy busy. His department is slowly moving from non-existent to firm-wide with D leading the charge. With this he is moving from a 20 hour week when E was born to 37.5 full time soon. Full time wouldn't be so bad but he takes the afternoons off to be with the kids in the afternoons while I work. So this means lots of evenings and weekends. And...he still vends.

For the first time in our married life he is actually picking and choosing games to work. He is also seriously considering eliminating other outside activities which he maintains. The kids are fine with this schedule as long as he makes it home in time for bedtime kisses on non-vending nights. I am adjusting by shortening my work week to make kid-free errands.

Feeling a Little Better ...

2009-08-10T02:31:00.000-07:00

After some retail therapy. August always hits me hard. What with Royals, Chiefs, Big Twelve football, and travel for D's day job, I can really empathize with single parents.

Shopping for myself even in the off season is tricky as it tends to get deferred because D needs to work or something else needs to be done. In August it is almost impossible but I was getting desperate. My unmentionables had holes. I had not made my yearly purchase of colored T's so that even my "new" ones were showing their age. My summer work shoes are almost 6 years old. Two fall weddings though put me over the edge. My current go-to dress clothes which I bought just before my dad died are 4 years old. Even that wouldn't be so bad if they were just dress clothes but I wear them all summer every summer as work clothes.

So this weekend I snuck out as soon as D appeared Saturday afternoon for 2 1/2 hours and arranged for an extended playdate for the kids Sunday. I now have enough regular clothes to get me by and ideas for the weddings though no clothes. The kids and I grabbed a couple of brief shopping session to get presents for an upcoming double birthday party and did our school supply shopping. I even have a good start on the next family birthday. At the end of this weekend I feel more centered and better able to tacke the needs of those around me after having taken care of me.

Now That's Bread

2009-08-02T04:27:00.000-07:00

Over the last 6 years of gluten-free living I have tried to bake bread several times without luck. Many are successful making what would be recognized as bread when they add upwards of 6 eggs per loaf but egg-free is almost unheard of. Finally this winter by combining a recipes from a blog, the magazine Living Without, and my favorite Betty Crocker, I came up with something I like. I think that the kids will eventually grow to like it too.

2 T ground flax seeds
6 T boiling water
2 1/2 c lukewarm milk (110 deg.)
2T sugar
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 t yeast
1 1/2 t apple cider vinegar
1/4 c shortening
5 c high protein flour blend
4 tsp xanthan gum

Combine flax seeds and boiling water. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Mix together milk, sugar, and salt in mixer bowl. Dissolve yeast in milk mixture. Allow sit for 5 minutes while yeast proofs. Stir in flax seed mixture and shortening. Combine flour and xantham gum. Add to wet ingredients. Beat for 4 minutes on high. Fill sandwich loaf sized bread pan. Let rise and bake at 350 deg.

High-Protein Flour Blend (Living Without)

1 1/4 c garbanzo flour
1 c arrowroot starch (I sub sweet brown rice)
1 c tapioca starch
1 c brown rice flour (I sub sorghum flour)

A Pilgrimage

2009-07-30T02:57:00.000-07:00

Girl Scouts pushes us to expand our boundaries. For the religious award, E needed to go to a religious shrine. She didn't like the idea of the local cathedral so we discovered to the Shrine of Phillipine Duschesne in Mound City, KS. With D out of town, we were primed for a day trip. The shrine is a nice little park in the middle of no where. (For those planning to make the trip, it is approximately 10 miles north of Mound City on Highway 7 and 5 miles east of a gravel road.)

On the way home we stopped at Mine Creek Battlefield in Mound City. The nice little visitor's center had great period dress-up clothes.

The Omega Institute

2009-07-16T03:12:00.000-07:00

Two years ago, in the heat of the summer, I wrote the specification for the Omega Institute for Sustainable Living, a building that takes sustainability to a whole new level. I am proud to say that it is opening today.

A Fun End to a our Summer Shakespeare Season

2009-07-12T05:28:00.000-07:00

Last week L participated in Will's Players, a half day one week camp for 5 - 8 year olds. On Friday the camp culimnated with a performance of The Play within the Play from A Midsummer Night's Dream. There were 4 characters that the kids could pick from to play. There was no limit to the number of kids that could play each part and they acted the same part in mass. Consequently there were 5 Thisbees, 4 Pyramuses, 2 Wall/Moons, and 3 Lions. A narrator told the story which included directions for the kids and the lines which the kids then repeated. In this play, the lovers, Pyramus and Thisbee, both commit suicide. L, one of the Pyramuses, did a superb job at drawing out the dying, milking it our for all it was worth.

To get a sense of the play, above picture is of Pyramus and Thisbee at the Wall. The girls on the left are Pyramus. The girls in the middle are the Wall. The boys on the right are Pyramus. It was fun to see both the individual interpretations of each child and how they drew from each other.

A Harry Potter Summer

2009-07-12T04:55:00.000-07:00

When the subject comes up we are asked if we are going to see the new movie? No, we have a long ways to go before we are ready for the movie...

For our trip to the lake Memorial Day, D got the kids Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on audio book to listen to in the car. E and K have friends that are working their way through the series and D though that it might be good to expose our kids also.

Needless to say, they were hooked. After finishing the audio book, D challenged E to a race to see who could finish HP2 first. E won. I listened to it on my trip to St. Louis and am since then relistening to it with K and L as we drive around town. Meanwhile D and E are racing again, this time through HP3.

These days the kids are spending their time playing quiditch and casting spells. L is working hard at scrunching his forehead up just so that it looks like he also has a lightening bolt scar.

The Merry Wives of Windsor

2009-07-06T02:52:00.000-07:00

The girls finished on Friday Camp Shakespeare, a two week day camp which culminates in a production on the big stage. The focus this year was on the lesser known play, The Merry Wives of Windsor.
K played the page, Robin, and jealous Master Ford. E was the wacky conniving Mistress Quickly.

The Merry Wives of Windsor was a great change of pace for the girls and the rest Kansas City as it was primarily in prose and widened their exposure to Shakespeare's works.

Halter Day at the K

2009-07-05T11:26:00.001-07:00

Guess who got a new apron...

Anniversary Quilt

2009-07-03T18:07:00.001-07:00

My family has a tradition of making friendship quilts for a couple's 40th anniversary. This August my uncle and aunt, Mike and Clarissa, are taking their turn.

So many of my memories of them center around our family reunions at my parents' camp ground. To honor those memories I replicated the campground office building on our family's block.

Half of the fun of doing a friendship quilt is getting to see everyone else's block. I hope to get a chance to to see the quilt prior to it being shipped to their home Minnesota.

Happy Anniversary, Mike and Clarissa.

High Jam Hopes

2009-07-01T18:58:00.000-07:00

With much excitement and anticipation, I filled my grandmother's canner with water to process my first ever batch of strawberry jam. It's age showed with missing handles, crumbling seal, and broken gauge but served well for a water bath. E has already proclaimed the jam as good as boughten and I know what I will be eating it on my toast tomorrow. (Check here for the recipe.) I will go to sleep tonight with fingers crossed hoping to find 5 sealed jars tomorrow.

Relief

2009-06-28T18:43:00.000-07:00

After over a week of 90 plus temperatures, today has been a welcome relief with the high only reaching 84. We enjoyed a bike ride to church in the morning and then another in the evening for ice cream. I feel so relaxed and ready for a good night's sleep.

Technology

2009-06-16T02:52:00.000-07:00

I heard this weekend that 75% of the population have cell phones. Though I don't know exactly what that means, I do know that it is a lot of the population and we aren't part of it. I also heard that broadcast television is on its way out and at some point all there will be is cable. We don't have that either. In many ways we don't resist technology, we do have 3 computers including a kids computer. But we hold back when it comes to cost. The computers have all come at a greatly reduced cost, mostly bought at auction from my office. It is the cost of cell phones and cable that primarily holds us back...that and the increased access...to television programing and others to us. So for a while longer we will resist and some day our children or our jobs will pull us into the 21st century.

Patching

2009-06-04T03:28:00.000-07:00

This last week since my success on the spider patches the kids have been putting other favorite clothes with holes on my chair. A pair of shorts that L has worn for 3, maybe 4 years, size 24 months, with a hole on one side in the rear appeared. Unfortunately for these much loved shorts, the other side is almost ready to wear a hole and the fabric around the hole is almost ready to go. When I told L that these were not fixable he asked for another pair of "short" shorts. When I explained that I thought that it wasn't wise to get him another pair of size 24 month shorts, he thought that it would be better if the next pair were 5 year old shorts.

K's favorite, very, very, stained yoga pants finally landed on my chair last night. I had dreaded their appearance but knew that it would soon be coming. Not to mention the obvious hole in the knee, there were three other holes. What saved me from having to patch these that it is only a matter of one or two wearings and there would be a hole at the inseam.

Shorts and More Shorts

2009-06-04T03:03:00.000-07:00

I am on a shorts making frenzy. It started last summer when E spotted some yellow plaid that she wanted some shorts made from. Well...she didn't get them made. This spring I knew that it would be up to me to make them. I can't, however, make shorts for E without making for K and L. While cutting out K's I realized that I had enough for two pair so E gets another pair. Right now I have four pair in various stages of completion from just needing elastic to just cut out. I am currently sewing the matching pair at the same time. It saves in time as I don't have to figure out what comes twice as many times. The key to the whole thing will be that I can't fully finish any pairs until I am ready to finish all (too much jealousy) and they all have to be done in time for Girl Scout Day Camp a week from today (the girls don't have enough bottoms for camp). I bet that you can guess what I am going to be up to in my spare time the next few days.

A Midsummer's Night Dream, A Teen Version

2009-05-29T02:32:00.000-07:00

For the last month the girls have been working hard preparing for their part in the Studio Shakespeare production of A Midsummer's Night Dream where they were playing two of the Wee Faeries. The show opened last night with the girls working their cute magic...but tell E.

Memorial Day

2009-05-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

We joined my family at my mother's at the Lake Memorial Day. My mother had been given a kayak for a belated birthday present. The kids had a good time testing it out.

Growing Vining Plants Vertically

2009-05-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

Our inner city lot is not big enough for everything I want to grow. Particularly when it includes 2 types of cucumbers, cantelope, watermelon, pumpkin and butternut squash. (How in the world did I get more 6 types of vines when I only have room for 5???) Last weekend I put everything on hold and built vertical structures to support them. The thought is that they will take less room that way.

Since then the kids and I have planted cucumbers, cantaloupe, butternut squash, watermelon, pumpkin, marigolds, nasturtiums, zinnias, sunflowers, bush beans and more beets. I really enjoying experimenting and am getting enough good results to keep going. It is raining now so I am hopeful to be seeing new shoots soon.

Creative Dressing

2009-05-19T02:37:00.000-07:00

This time last year we decided that we wanted to ride as a family our bikes to church. Church is a little of a mile from our house so definitely a doable thing. However, I had just made calf length Sunday outfits for the girls. Those were not going to work on bikes. Consequently we made a trip to The Children's Place for Sunday bike outfits, skorts and t-shirts. Those skorts were relatively short last year but this year they really were too short. Rather than go out an get more skorts that would quickly get too short fast, we added another tier onto the bike skorts from last year.

Spiders on His Pants

2009-05-13T02:30:00.000-07:00

L caught his favorite orange shorts on the top of a chain link fence trying to climb it over it. Immediately he wanted me to put spider patches them. I had been experimenting with decorative patches on E's yoga pants. So I thought that I would give it a shot. After a quick check on the web for an approximation of a spider's anatomy (2 body parts, 8 legs with 2 joints each, two fangs) I was off. I took some iron on patch and put it over the tears and the zigzagged the details. All are pleased with the results though next time I need to experiment with my machine to get a heavier zigzag.

Bike Week 2009

2009-05-12T02:54:00.000-07:00

We kicked off Bike Week 2009 with our first ride to church for the year. Last night D, L, and I went on a group bike ride while the girls were at rehearsal. Though not dressed in official bike gear we were able to stay up with the best of them. L was the entertainment on the ride keeping up a constant banter on his tag along.

We received great little coin purses made from recycled bicycle tubes. Shhh! Don't tell D but I am thinking about getting him one of their wallets for Father's Day.

Last year during Bike Week I was struggling with a leaky tube. I had just started my commuting and was still not comfortable with it. Now I can make "the hill" home no problem and the spring weather is making riding pleasurable.

Happy Belated Mother's Day

2009-05-11T02:43:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful day. L was so excited about Mother's Day. He never actually told the surprises but creatively gave away the presents a couple of times. We rode our bikes to church. It is amazing what one year can make in the kids ability to ride. Last year, this time, K could barely make the hills and the trip was full of fussing. This year she struggled with just one hill and there was no fussing.

In the afternoon all of us went to the Kansas City Ballet. We have season tickets for 4 but given a fifth so Dan joined us. The performance was wonderful and it was good to attend as a family.

I hope that each of your days was as wonderful.

How to Get Your Kids to Eat Tofu

2009-05-01T02:35:00.000-07:00

Make spring rolls.

For the last two days K and L have begged to make spring rolls. Once the tofu is fried and the noodles are cooked, they can do it all by themselves with only a little help from me. I can see more tofu spring rolls in our near future.

A Line Full of Projects

2009-04-24T03:02:00.000-07:00

My shopping trips with Lin yielded a line full promise waiting for me to sew.

Raised Beds or Sand Boxes?

2009-04-22T02:59:00.000-07:00

I put dirt into my new raised beds Sunday and Monday.

I planned to plant them later in the week but the kids had other ideas.

K's First Communion

2009-04-20T01:51:00.000-07:00

After a whirl wind 5 days, K made her First Communion in a celebration full of joy and surrounded by friends and family.

Note the lace dress, it is a borrowed frock. At least 4 girls have made their First Communion in it. The first is now 23 years old.

Celebrating Old Friendships

2009-04-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

J and Lin are in town for K's First Communion.

Last night we gather a group of old friend together to reconnect.

Hamburger Heaven

2009-04-18T04:22:00.000-07:00

My girls cannot remember having a hamburger with a bun and rarely have they had French Fries out. Gf buns when bought are pricey and I have yet to have conquered making them. Yesterday we ventured over to Lawrence for fabric shopping and hamburger eating at the Local Burger. The Local Burger, so called because it gets much of the ingredients from local sources, is very allergy aware. Their menu is totally gf with the exception of croutons and whole wheat buns for which they have a gf option. Even the strawberry "shake" smoothie, E and I shared, was dairy-free. I can see more trips to Lawrence for fabric shopping (a.k.a. hamburger eating).

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

2009-04-09T02:34:00.000-07:00

I don't generally review books but "Hugo" caught my fancy. It is ideal for a visual spatial person. Brian Selnick, the author, told a fictional account of a boy in 1930's Paris and his interaction with Georges Melies. The telling of the story goes back and forth between illustrations and text; the story is dependent on both.

"Hugo" is a quick read. E who fought the idea of a 570 page book completed it in 2 days of effortless reading and it was not a Harry Potter type reading marathon.

Photo Album Season 2009 Wrap-Up

2009-04-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

I am done with 4 days to spare. I have absolutely all pictures taken through the end of 2008 inserted in albums and even stuck down. I even had time to update L's album with baby book like entries. I greatly exceeded the goals I had laid out for myself back in January. It feels so wonderful. I hope to never get so behind again. With a system laid out, I don't think that I have to.

The Dance

2009-03-22T03:27:00.000-07:00

When setting our wedding date 11 plus years ago, I was very strategic. I had to miss as many prime sporting events as possible. I wanted miss both baseball and football season and definitely the NCAA tournament. I wasn't crazy. I knew that if I wanted to celebrate our anniversary I would need to miss the "Dance." For 3 weeks life revolves around college basketball. He had L filling out brackets at 18 mo. "L, do you want the Tigers or the Boilermakers to win?" "Tigers," and so on for all 64 games.

This year is no exception. Everyone has their brackets secretly filled out with many admonishments of not to cheat directed at me. This last being the result of my winning two years ago. For the first time we have no duplication of number one teams. We should have hooting and cheering as we each follow our favorite team. Go KU, MU, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Louisville!

The "C" Word

2009-03-21T02:59:00.000-07:00

The last two days my life has been consumed by the "C" word. "What's that?" you ask. Well it is "colonoscopy." I know that I am young but when you loose a father (67) and a maternal great-grandmother (55) to colon cancer, you have to start early, 40 to be specific. Actually it is not so bad...in hind sight.

The preparation day is spent consuming a clear liquid diet and mega-doses of laxative. The day of is a simple 15 - 20 minute procedure for which you are out. The remainder of the day you take it easy. I wasn't even supposed to cook. (OK, I cheated a bit. I don't know how we would make it through a day without me cooking.)

Colonoscopies are not talked about much in the general public but in my family they are a regular topic of e-mails. The latest was this month my uncle reminding all to not put off having one. At this point 5 family members, 4 aunts and uncles and a brother, have had polyps detected during their probe. Polyps may or may not turn into cancers; however, I for one don't plan on leaving one as an experiment.

I am relieved to write that I was found to be clear. Please make sure and schedule your colonoscopy as soon your doctor recommends it. I know from watching my dad that it is better than the alternative.

Note: My dad actual did have regular colonoscopies; however, that was in the day of short colonoscopies. Unfortunately for him and us, his cancer was in the upper colon where the short colonoscopy did not examine.

No 'Poo

2009-03-11T02:43:00.000-07:00

I have heard over the last couple of years people going without shampoo for environmental reasons and then there is the Curly Girls that do so because shampoo dries their hair out. I have always had straight, slick, fine, short hair that had to be washed daily to combat bed head.

Over the last year I decided to try a longer do and began to grow it. When my hair was long enough I had it cut in my beloved wedge only to discover that it no longer would lay flat and swing but had enough body to cause it to stick out. My hair had changed and now had body, texture and a bit of a wave. What a surprise!

For the last few months I have experimented with the Curly Girls technique, washing with conditioner, not brushing, scrunching, gelling and allowing to dry natural. I was okay but I was not fond of the extra products I was putting on my hair or the heavy feel of my hair. Even when I went to conditioner only I could not get all of the conditioner out without a lot of extra water.

This weekend my window/mirror cleaner ran out so I refilled my bottle with a 1:4 solution of vinegar water. In a spontaneous moment I grabbed the bottle and put 2 squirts on my hair while washing it. 5 days later my hair is softer, more shiny, and still wavy only on 2 squirts a day. I also like it because that means one less bottle in my bathroom, less money on beauty products, and a lower carbon footprint.

Photo Album Season 2009 February Progress

2009-03-01T05:02:00.000-08:00

It is time for an accountability check regarding my photo album project. January went well. During the month of February I got all our photos stuck into sleeves in albums. Now I am going through the process of sticking them down to pages. I have found that the best time to do so is in the evening on my bed as the kids are getting ready for bed. It forces me to stay awake for a little longer.

About a week ago I was so excited because I thought had just two partial albums left...Then while looking for a certain picture I stumbled onto a humongous, well 3" binder, full of unstuck pictures. There are more photos to put down in that one album than the other two combined. I think that it is still possible to finish by the start of baseball season but I will have to be diligent. I am optimistic that next years photo album season will be accomplished quickly and by March I will be back to my regularly scheduled life.

Ballet from the Cheap Seats

2009-02-24T03:06:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I took 8 kids between the ages of 5 and 10 to the Kansas City Ballet production of Firebird. I felt like the Pied Piper. We kept picking up children along the way. One was dropped off at our house. Two more were picked up in the Lobby. Two more and their mother joined us in the Auditorium. To sit where? In the very best seats in the whole house according to my kids, the very last row in the balcony. The kids say that you can see the whole stage as opposed to just the feet of the dancers as is the case of the front row. (No, we have never splurged for front row seats at the Ballet but the kids have had occasion to sit there for School Shows.)

I personally like sitting there with kids because the Back Row is never full so it allows for adjustments when there is a head in the way. I don't have to worry about blocking the view of the people behind us if someone suddenly needs to switch seats in the middle of a dance or decides to sit with their seat up to get a better view. I also like that there are fewer people to bother with kid noises (occasional chatter, sqeaky seats and Velcro).

This is our third season to have season tickets at the Ballet, each year sitting in slightly different locations. When I re-up late next summer, what do you want to bet that "the best seats in the house" will waiting for us.

Gourmet Granola

2009-02-15T05:08:00.000-08:00

After we went gluten free, we joined a buying club and started purchasing some of our food in bulk from United Foods. All in all it has been a good arrangement and we have saved money over purchasing through our local health food stores. Occasionally though I have made a purchase only to have us tire of the food, become allergic to some ingredient in the dish I was using this bulk product for, or discover that kids didn't like it after all. Of late this has left me with almost 5 lbs of poppy seeds and sunflower seeds plus odd amounts of dried apricots and dates.

What is one to do?...Make gourmet granola. With some quinoa flakes also left from a food idea that didn't quite fly, I was able to make some luscious granola. Now I am trialing the recipe with some gf oats.

Doughnut Holes

2009-02-07T03:24:00.000-08:00

One of the benefits of having the girls in Girl Scouts is that it has pushed me to try new recipes. I have not been the most adventurous gf baker. I might have been better but the added complication of no dairy and no eggs has really slowed me down. Recipes that were suppose to be easy to convert just didn't work. In the last few months E wanted to earn the Cookie Connection badge so we had to bake an international cookie, biscotti. K, to earn the Brownie Girl Scouts Through the Years badge, needed to make a snack from the 1930's, Depression Cake. This week E needed to make a puffed bread for the Habitat and Home badge. Lo and behold we actually produced pretty decent doughnut holes.

The girls are so funny. They can't remember what gluten food tastes like so they always want to know if what we produce tastes the way the food their friends eat tastes. That is one loaded question as more than likely whatever their friends are eating is store bought. Once we get past that hurdle the true determiner is D, the only one of us still knoshing in the world of gluten.

Note: By popular demand here is the recipe.

Donut Holes

1 1/2 c gf flour mix
1/3 c sugar
2 t baking powder (in lieu of baking powder I used 1 t cream of tartar and 1/2 t baking soda)
1 1/2 t xantham gum
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1 egg ( in lieu of eggs I used 1 T egg replacer and 2 T hot tap water combined)
1/2 c milk or milk sub.
2 T vegetable oil
1/2 t vanilla

1. Heat an inch or more of oil to 375 degrees in a large frying pan, saucepan, or wok.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. In small bowl mix wet ingredients. Add to dry and stir with a fork just until moist.
4. Pat out dough on well floured surface and cut out holes. Or use a cookie/ice cream scoop.
5. Fry dough 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per side until deep golden brown. Drain on paper towel.
6. Roll warm donut holes in a bowl of cinnamon sugar or frost tops with chocolate frosting or powdered sugar glaze.

Makes 24 donut holes.

Modified from a recipe on www.gluten.net/recipes

Photo Album Season 2009 Progress

2009-02-03T02:22:00.000-08:00

Things are going well on the photo album front. All of K's pictures have been inserted into her album and E is only missing 2007. I have not stuck down any photos. I have labeled all the pictures from 2008 with the exception of November and December. Then I need to sort, insert into albums and stick down.

I have to attribute this progress to all the work I had done in previous years. I had the girls' photos separated and mostly sorted by year. I had this years' photos mostly downloaded to our computer and partially uploaded to the printer. I organize all photos in both locations by month so it is now easy to go back if I can't remember when a picture was taken. Not trying to label 3 year old photos helps.

I have my fingers crossed that I can get the rest labeled and sort all of 2008 by album this week. The sooner I get my photo albums done, the sooner I can get back to sewing.

Plastic Recycling

2009-02-02T05:44:00.000-08:00

The Kansas City Metropolitan Area got good news last week when Deffenbaugh Industries announced that it would increasing its plastic recycling program to include #3-7 in addition to #1-2, effective today, February 2nd.

Spanish Dancer

2009-01-27T17:32:00.000-08:00

How a bun and a tutu can change a girl!

Piggy Skirt

2009-01-27T17:22:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas break the kids and I went to our favorite fabric store. K spotted the "piggy" fabric. As it was cut into fat quarters, she picked two other fabrics to make a tiered skirt.

Other than the pigs, the best thing about this skirt is that it twirls.

Alternative Forms of Excercise - Roller Skating

2009-01-19T02:38:00.000-08:00

Last night the girls and I went skating with the Girl Scouts. It was the girls second time to skate and they did so much better than the last time. They immediately took off holding onto to wall without having to hold onto me. Soon I saw each of them skating without holding on. K had perfected the skating shuffle. E had more graceful glide but lacked the skill to propel forward. Though neither could make even a quarter of the way around the rink without falling, all would consider it a great success.

I enjoyed this greater confidence. I was able to skate more and though my upper body did not get the work out of a year ago when I spent most of the time holding up skaters with errant legs.

Misspent Childhood

2009-01-17T13:14:00.000-08:00

D always claims that a large part of his childhood was misspent in a bowling alley. While most boys were playing football, basket ball and base ball, D bowled.

Now, what has he done? He has the kids in a home school bowling league. He feels that K has an aptitude for it. As she also has an interest, all are giving it a shot.

At least when we walked out of the bowling alley today we didn't smell of cigarette smoke unlike when he was a child.

The Return of the Light

2009-01-11T02:58:00.000-08:00

At 5:25 pm as I ended my last meeting of the day, I looked out the window. It was still light. For the last two months I had been riding home in the dark. I rushed to gather my things. Though I was still in full night time riding attire, I actually made it home with the last of the sun's rays still on the horizon.

Tracking Commuting

2009-01-08T02:40:00.000-08:00

My office tracks it carbon foot print. Every year each employee is asked to estimate their commuting carbon foot print by identifying method of travel, gas mileage, and number of days a week. Each year it pains me to estimate the number of days a week that I go into the office and now the number of days a week that I ride my bike. How can one mentally average months of riding 3 plus days a week with months of driving similar and working anywhere for 0 to 3 days a week from home. Too many variables!

Consequently I have decided to track my commuting progress through the year on the side bar. Join me and seeing how my year's commute pan's out.

Ponchos

2009-01-07T02:33:00.000-08:00

The fleece ponchos E made for Christmas presents turned out so well and were so easy that I wanted to share.

We based the pattern on this poncho tutorial. However, as with all patterns I ended up modifying it. Instead on making the rectangles 8 inches longer, we found that 10 to 12 inches seemed needed to easily get them over the kids heads. The other modification we made was that we cut the bottom into circle once the poncho was assembled by folding the poncho in quarters so that the corners line up. Then we find a radius point by extending the sides on the square up through the head opening with a piece of paper. Finally we used the shortest side as the radius and cut the circle.

In E's mind the hardest thing about the poncho was cutting the fringe. It took a bit of time and it was tedious.

Photo Album Season 2009

2009-01-05T03:20:00.000-08:00

It's photo album season. What! You have never heard of it. My calendar shows it spanning from January 1 to Royals' Home Opening Day. This year with the late Opening Day on April 10, I have at least 10 extra days. Why Opening Day? My freetime greatly diminishes as D goes back to vending and I pickup most of the evening parenting.

It is during this time that I try to pull photo albums for the previous year together. All through the year we shoot pictures, download to the computer, back-up, and on a rare occasion upload to Costco for future printing. During photo album season everything else happens. Printing, labeling, and placing in albums. It wouldn't be such a big task but the early years of Leo's life were such a wirl wind with a new baby, a new diet, and child with severe eczema, and a host of allergies through out the house that I did not do any photo album work other than shoot and print for two 1/2 years.

With my fourth photo album season I hope to get caught up at least as far as every photo, back log and current, will be labeled and put into an album. I also plan on sticking down every current photo though the backlog may not totally get done this year.

Progress so far includes printing 2008 pictures and stocking up on photo marking pens. (They always seems to walk away between seasons.) The kids and I prepared the first set of pages, stuffing 100 black inserts into page protectors. I only have 2006 left to put in Kate's albums though 2003 - 5 have not been adhered. I still need to put 2003 - 7 in albums for Eleanor and then label and put in albums 2008 pictures.

I have put an appointment in my Outlook Calendar to post my results Opening Day.

A Project Complete

2009-01-05T02:21:00.001-08:00

Shortly after a whole house renovation 2 1/2 years ago, I decided that our nearing 100 year old house needed more storage. Don't all 100 year old houses need more storage! My office had move several years before and had allowed the employees to go in and pull out any thing that they could use. I made away with several Rubbermaid Closetmaid wire shelves. With these as my starting point with I installed shelving and rods in our closet and shelving in the office. However, I stalled out in the girls' closet. I just couldn't get the screws into the old studs.

This week with direction from the local hardware store I finally learned how to use my variable speed drill to drive screws. After purchasing a more powerful drill (the 20 year old one still turned but didn't have the umph any more), we now have shelves in the girls' closet, L's room and the playroom/sewing room mostly waiting to be filled.

Girl's Closet

L's Room

Playroom/Sewing Room

A Girl with a Plan

2009-01-03T16:36:00.000-08:00

I always work better with a plan. If you want something done have me put in on my Outlook calendar. That little reminder function does wonders for getting me to do tasks that I would rather not or tend to forget like L's daily medicine or changing the sheets. If you want to get together with me, set a date. Otherwise I generally find something that has to be done and we won't meet.

I make out menus every 6 weeks, have a master grocery list, and a weekly weekend checklist of things that need to be done.

Homeschooling I have for a couple of years scheduled science but never any thing else. We just did the next right thing whether it was page, lesson or chapter. I have been needing to schedule out science for the second half of the school year. At the same time I wanted to figure out English. Before I was knew it I have laid out all of our subjects for the rest of the year. I feel so good knowing that we will have everything I want to accomplish this year by the end of May.

Why didn't I do this before?!!!

Looking Back and Forward at the Same Time

2009-01-01T04:54:00.000-08:00

Blogging has been enjoyable and beneficial this year. I have learned much from fellow bloggers and my own blog has added an accountability factor to my life. We have bought more locally, reduced our food carbon foot print by eating less beef and more vegetable protein, reduced both our water and energy consumption, began to seriously compost, are growing bicycle riders, and picked back up on sewing.

In the next year I want to continue with all of the above and stepping it up a bit where possible. I am also considering increasing the size of our garden and trying to do a bit of water bath canning.

Over the holidays we had a furnace repair man refuse to look at our gravity fed furnace due to the fact that his insurance wouldn't cover work on it. As the issue appears to be temperature related, the fan won't kick on properly below 12 degrees which doesn't happen often here, we are considering but have not made significant movement toward finding a replacement. Many have told us that the efficiency on a new furnace would result in a significant reduction in our energy usage which would make for a relatively short payback. As this furnace seems amazingly efficient for its vintage, we are doubtful that the payback will be as quick as predicted. This is especially since there is a likelihood that an air conditioner would be included in the package.

Blogging should be a little easier in the new year as I got for Christmas a camera with a flash that works. The other one had had too much loving from the kids.

Happy New Year!

The Best Present

2008-12-26T04:30:00.000-08:00

I received a number of wonderful gifts but the best gift I received yesterday was the gift of time. Back when E was a newborn we decided much to the chagrin of some family members that we would not make the family circuit on Christmas Day. We were glad to carve out time any other day of the year but Christmas Day was going to be ours. As time has gone on 4:00 pm Christmas Eve mass has become our traditional service so that we literally do not have to leave the house all day Christmas.

I cherished much yesterday having D there to catch-up on small talk and not having to motivate the kids to get ready for yet another outing or errand.

Today we are back to our normal routine of being out in the world. I am already looking forward to next Christmas when we take another brief break and enjoy the quiet.

Christmas Vacation

2008-12-22T02:47:00.000-08:00

As usual I have accumulated much too much vacation and we have a use it or loose it policy. So for the next two plus weeks my top priority after getting through Christmas is to recharge my creative spirit. I plan to sew one hour every day. I currently have a skirt under way and am smocking a dress for E. Yesterday we bought piggie fabric for a skirt for K. Ideally I will find something to make L. Boy sewing projects are harder to find.

Vicarious DIY Christmas

2008-12-14T12:16:00.000-08:00

Each year I dream of making Christmas gifts. Ideas swirl in my mind like leaves in the wind. Then reality hit. When will I have time make one gift let alone many so reluctantly I let go of all except my traditional plate of goodies to give to the neighbor, god parents, and special friends.

For my kids Christmas is all about making gifts. They start in July coming up with ideas. By November they shift into the creating mode. But of course there are skills to be learned and tasks a little too big for the creator.

E has made pomanders, embroidered handkerchiefs, ear rings, ornaments, and fleece ponchos. I put the first one together because it took us three tries to get the size right. E broke down when she found out that we had to rip the seams out the first time. She didn't think that the second was necessary but boy did it make all of the difference. I hope to post a picture of these after Christmas.

Baby Steps By Babes

2008-12-07T04:04:00.000-08:00

We signed up to provide snacks for the December meeting for both of the girls' Girl Scout Troops. This was a strategic decision on our part as it is at this meeting the gluten-filled holiday treats come out and my girls are left eating whatever Mom could scrounge up that day. At other meetings snacks often consist of individually packaged "healthy" snacks and juice boxes.

I decided to pull out the stops and make gluten-free frosted sugar cookies because the perception has often been that the girls could not eat cookies. Ha! I suggested that we take a jug of juice and reusable cups to eliminate the waste of 14 juice boxes. E's meeting was first and she was good with that. The morning of I gathered everything up including a package of paper napkins. E seeing that, made a dash for the napkin drawer, and began pulling out cloth napkins enough for the entire troop. She decided that if we were going reusable, we were going all the way.

It went off without a hitch. In two weeks we have a repeat performance for K's troop; only this time the drink dujour is lemonade.

Is Sewing a Dying Art? (Part 2)

2008-11-30T04:42:00.000-08:00

The more I thing about this question, I realized that my family is only going to increase the amount of sewing we do as we become more and more sustainable.

Mending four dresses is only the tip of the ice berg. Last summer I made water bottle bags from the legs of old jeans and mob caps from old curtains. This week the kids made dolls from the same old curtains and we all made tabords for Camp Shakespeare from discarded decorator samples. I am starting to think about making panties from turtle necks with worn out cuffs and skirts from repurposed fabrics. In fact there is a sheet and pillow case waiting for a new use.

Do you know of any great ways to repurpose fabrics?

Is Sewing a Dying Art?

2008-11-29T03:07:00.000-08:00

Recently I followed a debate on this topic on the Well Trained Mind Forum. The majority felt that fabric, thread, zippers and other notion were too expensive to make it worth it to make you own clothes especially with inexpensive clothing is readily available.

I thought about this as I mended 4 hand-made dresses for the girls this week. Three of the dresses were English Smocked jumpers which the girls have worn hard for a minimum of 3 years each. These were made long and are gradually creeping up the girls legs but most likely won't make the fateful too short spot before the yokes are so worn out that I will have to replace them before handing them down. The other was a hand-me-down from a cousin which E is currently wearing and that K is sure to wear when she grows into it.

Sure I could have easily have bought several inexpensive dresses for the girls for what we paid for these in fabric and labor. Would they have lasted 3 plus years? Most likely not. Our experience is that most of the items we purchase last about one year before handing them down. The styles and construction don't allow for growing.

Definitely sewing is still a viable endeavor at our house when I have the time. Currently I am contemplating making new jumpers to replace these. My only fear is that this time around the girls will out grown the style before they outgrow/wear out the jumper.

Christmas Shopping

2008-11-23T03:11:00.000-08:00

Christmas shopping has gotten easier over the years. In the early years I had troubles figuring out how much and what. Last year I stumbled upon the formula of three gifts, something they want, something they wear, and something to read. This is a sustainable amount of gifts. Combined with what they receive from others, the kids still feel that Christmas is the wonderful day that it is.

Paring down has forced us to start Christmas shopping early, like the last few days. In many ways it seems premature and counter intuitive. However, with fewer items on the list we need to make sure that we get exactly what they would like. Over the years we have learned the hard way that if anything needs to be mail ordered it needs to be done prior to December 1. After two outings I have all of the major gifts for the kids and have identified two items to order which will be done by the end of today. Stocking stuffers and gifts for each other remain but we should be able to piece those together in the next 32 days.

Composting

2008-11-17T03:54:00.000-08:00

My curbside recycled compost bin is doing well. In October I harvested my first "crop" of fresh loam.

Now the biggest problem is how to keep the bin feed. Currently I am waiting for D to mulch the millions of leaves so as to add some of them. Unfortunately without green materials the leave won't compost quickly.

The office has a Starbucks machine which makes individual cups of Joe. As coffee grounds work as a green material, it recently hit me that I could harvest the coffee grounds that are automatically deposited after each cup into a designated trash can. The convenient part is that I sit next to the machine making it easy to remember as it is definitely not quiet and yet popular.