2.for.Tuesday

We have this amazing couple in our ward. She is from the Ukraine and he is from somewhere in South America. We love them. *B* loves to share fresh garden stuff with them. The other day they came by with a box of apricots for us. Someone let them come and pick apricots so they decided to share some with us. I've been wanting apricots and I even volunteered my swollen feet to work in the cannery last week hoping that they would have some overripe ones so I could make jam. No luck. But hey, there are always good neighbors and today my mom brought a 5 gallon bucket full from her good neighbors. Now I'm thinking not just jam, but fruit leather also. one: apricot fruit leather [or any fruit for that matter]. It looks yummy. It sounds easy enough. And I do have a convection oven to speed up the process. two: Molly's summer book. I love the idea. The boys have been doing their index card journaling and I'm trying to take photos. I wanted to make a book anyway. This photo is from a postcard swap that Hula Seventy did. I've had it flagged for quite a while now, but haven't really had a reason to use it. Today I like it as dividers in a summer book. After I saw Molly's book I was thinking, "why not do the colors of summer?" Throw in all of the colors of the rainbow or go and grab paint swatches of summer to me colors + add white [for *I*s baptism and Baby's blessing among possible other things]. Plus all of the great colors of things that come out of the garden. Anyway, I think it's brilliant. Go and check it out. She's got some really great ideas for working it on the go and not making it difficult. I love the fill in the blank journaling pages that she gives. It's downloadable so grab it. Use it. I really think you should. on the same train, but a slightly different track... when I went to grab the link to Hula's blog I noticed that she's participating in a summer color week this week. I thought that was quite appropriate. Maybe I should join in. Maybe you should too!

The Girl Is Two

and I'm not really sure I'm ready for all of the growing up that's happening around here. Today she won't leave her diaper on. Actually, that's not just a today thing. She takes her clothes off quite a lot, but today she is taking her diaper off and putting her clothes back on. I've been trying to make sure she goes potty, but I made her put her diaper on again after I asked if she needed to go potty in the toilet and she said no then proceeded to pee on the floor. I've also had to put the kaibosh on her getting her own drink out of the sink because one doesn't need to stand in the sink to get a drink. The chair had to be moved. Next she wanted some dried apples so I put some in a bowl for her. According to her I didn't give her enough and not enough is apparently worse than none because she dumped them all on the floor and threw a fit. Thankfully the crying fit on the floor caused her to fall asleep. I think that might be a little terrible, but good grief! She is now on the couch taking a nap. I hope it's a long one. This is a page I made with a template from JS.com. Nice and easy. [As for the other birthday this month, I went to the scout store to buy his shirt + numbers + book + scarf he needs... $62 later I'm thinking something is wrong with that. And it's all stuff he needs. Really? That's just not right. Happy Birthday Buddy. I hope you like scout stuff.]

It's Finally Official

I am crossing no. 12 off the list. These boots have been on back order at Target for months. Seriously. I think it's been 6 mo. They were supposed to actually be used to work in the garden, but they're a little late. I can't bend over to work in the garden anymore. And for that matter, I can barely get the boots on at this point. My feet are so swollen. I don't notice that they're swollen unless I try to put on closed shoes. In the 2 minutes I had them on to take this photo my feet fell asleep. I think I'll not be wearing them for a while. The girl sure seems to like them though. She keeps undoing the buckles. So that's it. No. 12, your finished.

I Am Lame.

I admit it whole heartedly. I've been dreaming of the perfect rag doll to make for the girl. I've not seen patterns that are exactly what I want so I decided to use my mad fake it skills and just jump in with both feet. But, you see, my mad fake it skills don't quite match up with my mediocre sewing abilities. I just couldn't get the feet to be feet. I wanted feet with some kind of a shape so I could make mini felt shoes. The girl loves shoes. The feet themselves turned out fine, but they looked wonky [and not a good wonky] when I sewed them to the legs. I was bummed. And that was the end of my dreams of a perfect rag doll. But there was still a small problem. The boys knew I was making her a doll for her birthday. They won't let me not make her a doll for her birthday. But the motivation is not there. I don't want to stumble my way through a rag doll any more. I bought a PDF pattern this morning for this doll and was suddenly motivated to sew it up and be done. But the pattern still hasn't come to my inbox. So... [you know what's coming don't you. It's the, "I'm lame" part] I'm stumbling my way through sewing a doll. I'm on the internet right now seeing if the pattern has arrived [for what is possibly the 10th time since I ordered it]. I thought I'd give it a few more minutes. I should just give up checking. The rules of my life dictate that it won't arrive until I've got the doll finished. And that's just how it is. Besides. I'm almost finished. So there. Another wasted purchase. And it isn't even the doll I was dreaming of in the first place. Argh.

2.for.Tuesday

It is celebration month around here. The girl turned two and *I* will be eight. Plus Father's Day. Plus a visit from my sister. Plus the seemingly endless countdown [only 4.5 weeks] until little #4 arrives. We've been a little busy. Today I'm going to finally share two projects that were first mentioned in a post from October 2009 I called round three. I had bought fabric for project #1 and ended up starting two others with the scraps. I think they're pretty fun.

one: Happy Banner. This little project keeps popping up in the 2.for.tuesday archives. It was first mentioned in February 2009 as something I wanted to do. It made it's second appearance in October 2009, when I finally got around to starting it. And now, here we go again. It's finally completely finished. And it's currently hung. And I'm intending to use it. A lot. You just might see it hung outside with some blue or pink tissue balls when the little finally comes. Yes, you just might.

two: I Love You Jar. This one has been finished for quite some time. I'm sure I've mentioned it more than once. I keep promising a post about it. Today you're in luck. This all started when I decided that my kids needed to do more service around the house. Not just for me, but for each other. I wanted them to notice things that needed to be done and do it. So I stacked my fabric scraps right side together and started cutting/sewing hearts. I stuffed them and sewed up the opening, though not in any professional way. This was about doing it. Not having it be perfect. When they were done I put them in a tin pail and we had a FHE about service.

Do a service leave a heart. That's really it in a nutshell. For example: *I* would often leave his bed unmade. *A* got home from school earlier than *I* so he would notice the unmade bed and make it. Then he'd leave a heart hidden under *I*s pillow. He loved doing it. *I*s favorite service was putting *A*s dinner dishes in the sink [as that's something he can't seem to remember to do]. He'd leave a heart where the plate was and then call to *A* that he forgot to take care of his plate/cup/etc. *A* would come to do it and find the heart. Seriously, they loved it. We finished getting all the hearts in the jar and got to do a fun family outing of their choice. Right now the jar is full and waiting for me to decide it's time to bring it out again.

2.for.Tuesday

the absolute truth of it all is that I am really just trying to stay sane and keep putting one foot in front of another [and catch a quick nap if the stars all align]. one: this great quote... two: tickets. I know I promised a scripture bag tutorial. It's still in the works. I'm mostly focusing on the big summer plans I had. They're working. They're making me work. It's exhausting. I keep thinking it will get easier. That I won't have to nag and push and yell to get the boys to complete their jobs. *I* has been very motivated. He gets up at 7:00'ish and immediately makes his bed and starts on his extra job. I added one more item on the summer list just for him. I stole the "caught being good" idea from his school and made up these tickets to hand out for random things. Like the night *I* was the only person who took care of his dinner dishes. Really, the only one. That was the night I decided he needed to be rewarded for his efforts. It's nothing really spectacular, but if you're interested the tickets link will take you to the box for a download. There are eight per sheet.

Everyday Food

magazine [May edition] has been this weeks go-to. We've had fish tacos with cabbage + lime and chicken tostada salad so far. Tonight I've got plans for calzones and we'll do white bean and tuna salad on Sunday [Dad is in charge of Saturday dinner, so I don't plan that one if I can help it]. It must be the time of year, but everything looked so good and light. I've had the subscription for a year now and I think this is the first time I've actually made more than one thing out of any given issue. The fish tacos were a big hit. Really big. And for those of you who may not be big fish eaters. Tilapia is a very mild fish. Not fishy at all. The only thing I did differently wrong was using mayonaise instead of sour cream in the sauce. I don't know how I did that. And honestly, I just now realized that I did it at all as I was looking at the recipe. So... try it right or substitute mayonaise for the sour cream. I can't vouch for the sour cream, but with mayo it's yummy. And now that I've made it, I would make extra sauce. We all really wanted more of the sauce. The chicken tostada salad was yummy too. I am not kidding when I say that my kids must be Mexican. I love Mexican food any day, but I crave it when I'm pregnant. They don't have a link up on the website so I guess I can't share the recipe or a photo here today. Just imagine a toasted corn tortilla topped with melted monterey jack cheese, chicken [I used canned] seasoned with onion, garlic, and taco seasoning [I chose to use taco seasoning instead of chili powder] and after cooking sprinkled with lime juice, chopped romaine again sprinkled with lime juice, chopped tomato, diced avocado, and fresh cilantro leaves. All sprinkled with salt. If you want the actual recipe give me a call or pick up the May issue of Everyday Food. You can thank me later.

I Had a Request

to repost the Blender Whole Wheat Pancake recipe I shared a few years ago. I've learned a few things since then too... my friend told me that the buttermilk is interchangable with milk and while I agree to an extent [it will make pancakes and they do taste pretty good] I now feel very strongly that you should use buttermilk. It activates the baking soda and makes the batter thicker and fluffier and the pancakes are so much better. I can't say enough how much I love these pancakes. Really.

• 1 1/2 c. whole wheat berries
• 2 1/4 c. buttermilk [or 2 c. milk if you must]
• blend on high 2-3 minutes [while it's blending mix dry ingredients together in separate bowl and prepare the rest of your wet ingredients so you can add them all quickly]
• 2 eggs
• 3/8 c. canola oil
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3/8 tsp. salt
• 3 Tbsp. sugar

So that's it. The recipe as it was given to me. But you know me. I can't keep a recipe in it's original form. I also add 1/4 tsp. vanilla. Go figure. If you preheat your skillet/griddle before you start the batter it will be perfect when you're ready to start cooking. I add the dry ingredients last and pulse if necessary to get it all mixed in well. I do this because I am not kidding, the buttermilk activates the baking soda. It will bubble and expand. You're going to want to keep those bubble intact as much as possible. I also let it sit for a couple of minutes before starting to cook them so as to maximize the effect.

Enjoy!