Follow Us @SewHalfCrazy

7/09/2013

Consequences.....

7/09/2013 1 Comments
So today the boys are tackling the play room, I helped this morning, but now they are tackling it by themselves because I found a precious beyblade amongst some of their random toys. I must say.....they're tossing more than they're keeping. With. No. Argument.

Bliss, I tell you. Of course, this morning kicked my butt. I was tired by 10 AM. I did get up at 6:10 in my defense.

So here are some 'clean' pictures of the playroom.




This room is going to get transformed into Little Miss's room, so there's some work that needs to be done. Of course, I did say these were the 'clean' pictures. When we started this morning you couldn't even get into the room without tripping on something. Why are the boys helping me? Because they proceeded to tell me that they didn't need to clean up the room because the house cleaners we have come twice a month would do it for them. Ha Ha.

I told the hubs to cancel the cleaners, and the boys were going to help me clean, just to show them why they need to keep things clean even if we do have cleaners. Yesterday, they helped with 6 loads of laundry from start to finish and cleaned up their room. Today they tackled their room again, the playroom and helped me vacuum. Tomorrow? Well, we'll see how this momma feels, cause right now a break would be awesome.

We're editing a lot of the toys out of this room, simply because we lack the space for all of them. Fortunately, a lot are broken or lost, and half of the rest simply aren't played with. We're going to donate about 6 garbage bagfuls of toys, and Dev said to me today, "We're going to make a lot of kids happy by giving these away." *tear*

I can't wait to get to the next phases of this transformation.

Heather

7/06/2013

Some Things I've Been Learning...

7/06/2013 0 Comments

One of the things I love most about cooking, is that there's always something new to learn.  I'm a learner at heart; I'm always looking for information and trying to discover new, better ways to do things.  This week is a montage of things I've been learning recently...



Meat, topped with fresh herbs, topped with prosciutto is both an avenue to meal-time bliss and an excellent stress reliever.  Don't I look like I'm about to have a lot of fun? ;-)  Also, the sage should be tucked up underneath the prosciutto, not on top like the recipe said!



Kohlrabi: Looks like a living alien about to crawl off of my desk, tastes awesome when roasted (peeled, cut into large wedges, and roasted at 425 degrees for about 40 minutes)



Making your own herbal tea can be a cinch!  Just make sure the herbs haven't been sprayed with pesticides or other nasty chemicals.  I just left these mint leaves out on my counter on a paper towel for about a week until they were all dried up.  Then, because I don't own a mortar and pestle, I crumbled the leaves into a large ramekin and then ground them down a bit with a smaller ramekin.  You don't want to pulverize the leaves, just crush them a bit.  Then add hot water and enjoy!



Nut butters are SO RIDICULOUSLY EASY to make at home!  These are just some unsalted roasted almonds (organic would be nice, but not necessary if you trust your source...Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are both my friends).  Throw them into a food processor or sturdy blender - my Ninja is nut butter hoss - and pour in about a teaspoon of walnut oil.  Or you can use canola, but I like the walnut.  Then let 'er rip!  You might have to add more oil if it's not coming together, but that's your choice.  It'll take a few minutes, but less time than a trip to the store, and you can just make a little (adjust the oil as necessary  if you don't want to make a big batch.



Figs stuffed with anything are my life!  These have just been cut into quarters not quite all the way down.  Then, I blended some cream cheese (about half a package) with some walnuts I had leftover, put the mixture into a plastic sandwich bag, cut off the tip and went to town.  How are you supposed to eat them, you ask?  By stuffing a whole fig into your mouth, of course.  Go ahead; judge me.  Do you think I care when I'm eating these delicious stuff figs?  Nope.

*A friend of mine and Heather's, Evan, mentioned that you could add bacon to these.  Yes!  Yes, you could!  And that would be magical!



If you're going to make cherries jubilee to show off to your friends, make sure you test your matches first...or get one of those fancy-schmancy kitchen lighters.


Dana Fraedrich is the author of Skateboards, Magic, and Shamrocks.  If you like her writing, check out her book on Amazon, iBooks, Nook, Smashwords (all $0.99), or check out her website.

7/03/2013

Sweet Baby Rae's Room Inspiration

7/03/2013 0 Comments
So right now Reagan's room is the boys' playroom and its taken some hits. A lot of hits. Some we might not recover from, but I wanted to share my ideas for her room so far.


So this is what I'm working with right now. Obviously some of these things are wishes, as opposed to what's actually going to get used, because while we did donate a lot of stuff, there was also a lot of stuff that hasn't been donated yet.

I'm going to be using all white linens in her room, mainly because of their bleachability factor. Love me some bleach!

We're also planning on building her some built-ins to frame out the window in her room.  Over all I'm really liking how its coming together. What I didn't show on the mood board, is that the ceiling and closet in her room will be that pale pink, so there will be more pink than what I've shown there. Also the hints of blue will be in more pieces of art, etc.

What do you guys think?

Heather