Summer is Over

which is good because I needed a bit of slowing down and coming inside. I had so much fun gardening this summer. I still have some cabbage and Purple Peacock broccoli relative growing but for the most part the gardening is done. Now I am not one to waste time between hobbies so I have been sewing up a storm! I am currently working on a vintage dress pattern for myself (pictures coming soon!) Very excited to be fitting into any kind of vintage dress pattern (even if it IS labelled size 18!!) now that I've lost a grade total of 35lbs in 5 months. I've gotten excited about sewing for myself again now that clothes look better on me.
Here's what I did last night in under two hours!

in the tiniest garden..

cherry tomatoes +


baby sugar pumpkins +

pineapple crush strawberries producing about two dozen berries daily +

a few onions left +
a bunch of flowers I didn't plant and a few giant flowers I did plant =

happiness

Greens

Inside:

avacado chairs: done.

Outside:

blueberries

jalapeno

mini pumpkins

onions

lavender

potatoes

chives

Like Sister, Like Brother... and Other Goodies

The best part about not sending your kids to preschool, you ask? Saving that extra 200 bucks a month. Yes it's a little extra work on my part but I wouldn't have it any other way. David and I recently went to a home school convention and ended leaving empty handed but inspired. Here is a very Montessori inspired project. We wrote out the sight words we are working on and then cut yarn to glue over our words. Bella asks me every day if we can make more yarn words. Here she is pictured searching the Banagram(super fun Scrabble-like game) letters to match to her yarn words.

Elliott searching too. He also has yarn "words". hehe. So cute.


Also, look what I made:

Freezer jam! With only 1/2 a cup of honey in 4+ jars! That is my kind of jam. To make this I just washed and cut my bunch of rhubarb and boiled it for maybe two minutes. Then I strained the rhubarbs and added it back into my pot. I added washed, mashed strawberries about four pints. Brought that to a slow boil and added the pectin according to the package. Super easy. My next challenge is canning it next time!

summer readiness

My kids don't need anymore clothes! They are all set for summer which is great for them but I've had an itching to sew lately. I pulled out all my patterns determined there had to be something we needed that would be worth my time. I came across this sun hat pattern that I've been wanting to make in this book.



The best part about this hat is it is reversible. Can you guess which side Bella picked the fabric for? She was very excited to hold the pattern piece over my scraps to figure out which ones were big enough to use. I had to secretly limit her many scraps down to her three favorites because I am controlling like that. I love the little loop on the hat too. Sun hats never hang properly on our look coat hooks.




Don't let these fool you. He never actually wears the hat for more than two seconds.

Sibling interaction now:

A year ago:

oh, so much has happened between then and now. It hurts my brain to think of how much they have grown and experienced since then. They look like babies compared to now. I'm sure I'll be thinking the same thing next year.

This Month This Week

Sewing circle's sewing project this month was to finish something you've started. So instead of the usual "ignore what has been collecting dust in corners and piles all around my sewing area" project I had to dig through, find and name the projects to finish. Oh boy, were there plenty! Apparently I hate mending. Because that is all I found. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of mending and making something work again, or pretty again, but the act of mending hardly scratches my creative itch. Here is the third or forth mending project I completed this month but the one that meant the most to me.


My grandma made this for me almost ten years ago and I practically ruined it. It had 30+ holes where the fabric had worn through. I didn't know how to properly care for a quilt made with older fabrics. Now I know, do not throw it in the wash once a month. It will only be hand washed and spot cleaned from here on out and I think it should last many many more years.

My big accomplishment this week was running my first official 5k. Now to most people this would be small change but I was that lazy kid in middle school who never even really even tried to run the mile in gym class. I'm not sure how I did it but I got out of gym all together in high school. So anyway, this was a big deal. I think I'm going to try and train for a 10k now!

Before:


After:

[notice the change in face color]

My brag about it project:

I made baby Evan a Mei Tai using mine as a pattern. I spend no money on this using fabric I found on the side of the road a year ago. Sweet!

Late night project:
After finishing a handful of mending projects I decided I was done with that nonsense and ready to get back to what I love. Making clothes for my kids at almost no cost. Here are some shorts I made out of an old pair of pants.

You can't tell from this picture but I top stitched a fake fly on the front of these. I don't know why but it just looks so cute and all the store bought shorts have fake flies. So, why not?

Preview:

Newest project, avocado chairs.

Finally, photos I found on my iPod taken, unknown to me, by Bella. Love these even if it does look like an Elmo crime scene.

status update

mending:


quilt grandma made for me when I was a wee babe.


baking:

dough. toppings: red onion, broccoli, grain sausage, olives, mushrooms, sauce, cheese. yum.


breathing:


reading:
Little Men. I don't know that I will be finishing this anytime soon. I finally picked it up after giving up on Women In Love. My New Years resolution to read a book a month is 4 months behind! I've only finished two books. I need some really good book recommendations for this reading rut I am in!

running:
my first official 5k June 11th, but practicing 3 times a week.

losing:
on average 2lbs a week which puts me at just over 12lbs gone!

watching:
Party Down finale tonight.

A New Meal and Finally, Park Season!

A simple simple dinner that I like to make at the end of the week. Saute all left over veggies in olive oil. I had a couple carrots, celery, onion, garlic and kale. Add 1.5 cups green lentils, stir for a minute. Add 3 cups water, curry, cumin, salt and black pepper. Cover and cook until lentils are done. (35mins?) I don't have any exact measurements or times because I like to cook improve. If you do serve it with beets, as picture, you want to start boiling those before cutting any veggies.They typically take anywhere from 45-75mins depending on size. YUM! I topped it with a scoop of plain yogurt which I must admit I had to work up to. I always grew up eating yogurt sweet with berries or granola but I highly recommend trying it with this dish.

Friday the kids and I went to The Bellevue Botanical Gardens and enjoyed the fresh air even if it seemed we only walked about 100ft. I went back Saturday with middle school bff Bailey and actually got to see the whole thing. Beautiful!

For Sara Because She Often Listens To Me

Once a week meal posts. My dear Sister flatters me with her compliments of my cooking. She requested I post some of the things I've been cooking up. I don't usually make up my own recipes so I'll just post a link. I almost exclusively cook from the internet which is why the lap top is always in the kitchen.

Last night we had the yummiest sweetest cornbread I've made so far. Recipes from Bob's Red Mill. whose flour and cornmeal I buy often and love. [I also use their gluten free flours when entertaining my gluten free family members.]

The main course was from Cooks.com. I've never been a big fan of Cooks magazine beside the beautiful illustrations. I used to browse through it often on slow days while working at Metropolitan Market. Most of the recipes had meat in them and required too many things I don't usually have around. Anyway I googled cabbage and sausage because I had splurged and bought some vegan sausages from Field Roast Grain Meat Co. These are probably my favorite fake meat product. They are definitely a "sometimes" food at my house because they are expensive and super processed. I do love that they are made in Seattle and 100% cruelty free. You can find Cooks recipe here.






I am rating this recipe 10 out of 10. It was easy to follow clean up was super quick because all I used was the dutch oven, a knife, cutting board, and mixing spoon. Everything beside the cabbage and sausages I always have on hand so it doesn't take a lot of forward planning. Also, everyone ate it and liked it! There is nothing more satisfying to me than making a dinner my whole family will eat and not having to worry about if it is too hard for Elliott to chew or too soupy for Bella's tastes or having to remember to hold the vinegar for David.