Our California Vacation
Last night we got home from an 11 day vacation in southern California. Scott had a conference in San Diego last week and so we added a weekend before in LA to visit Grandpa and a weekend after in San Diego staying with my cousin. It is the longest we have been away from home since we got married. And I’m so glad we got to do it together. Creamie was a champ the whole time. She did so great. Really, I was more than pleasantly surprised.
I will probably share more photos than this, but in case that doesn’t happen, this is what we did. We did some beaching, some visiting, some playing, a lot of eating, thrifting, Legoland, more beaching, and more eating. And a lot of driving. A LOT of driving. (You can click on the pic to see it on flickr and get more details on any of the pictures.) I am so glad we went. And so glad to be home sleeping in my own bed and cooking in my own kitchen. Oh, and so glad that the back of our car is not holding a whole month’s worth of our life. I’m almost finished with all the laundry, actually Scott has done most of it. We went to the grocery store today and I am excited to cook dinner at home tonight. Be back soon.
Entertainment
Last night we went out to dinner for Valentines Day. All of us, which wasn’t exactly the plan from the beginning, but it turned out all right in the end.
Creamie wore her new V-day leggings (from Kohls) I wore new jeans that I wouldn’t have fit into last month (Yes!) and we went to a new restaurant.
Awesome food, awesome entertainment, and great ambience. You just can’t beat Mexican places that go all out with the lights and the bright flags hanging from the ceiling and a mariachi band that sings love songs at each table. Valentines Day Win. Hope your Valentines Day was lovely, or at least included fantastic Mexican food. I have lots of things to talk about, but a sick little girl is kind of taking up a lot of my time. It’s day 3 of this, and I sure hope it’s the last of it!
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Will you Be My Valentine?
This really is one of my favorite times of year. The perfect excuse to have ridiculous amounts of pink hanging up in your house and as much girly stuff as possible. Thanks to fabulous reader Susan who sent me the sweet paper birds at Christmas time. We hung them up then AND they fit right in with our Valentine tree. What’s that? What’s a Valentine tree? You know, it’s little Christmas ornaments that were on clearance, some old silver chain and a few paper birds. If it looks sparse it’s because Creamie lost interest in decorating it after not too long. I guess she got burned out on decorating trees in December. But Happy Valentines Day anyway, even if you don’t have a tree.
(I got this little one at Christmas from Hobby Lobby a few years ago. And one day I’ll be brave enough to buy a full size pink tree for Christmas. You know, like this one. Actually, yeah. I could totally see that tree in my living room. I would probably keep it up from Halloween clear through June.)
The Thing About Birthdays…
So today I turned 29. It was a mostly good day, as good as it can be with a mildly sick child I suppose. I found a few new thrift stores (more on that later), spent a fun afternoon with Creamie and went to an old favorite for dinner with our little family. And due to lack of birthday cake I had a birthday cookie with ice cream and whipped cream and called it good. I don’t need to blow out 29 candles anyway.
I mentioned a few posts ago that I have been working on a 29th year to do list. For the past year I’ve kept a sort of rough draft of things that I want to accomplish/start/attempt before I hit 30. Now, this actually has nothing to do with turning 30, just turning something. I wanted a good long time to think about them and make sure that the things I put on my first list were things I really did want to do. It’s gone through several drafts, with a lot of revisions and additions and etc. etc. etc. blah blah blah.
But my list is done. I wrote it out a few days ago on cute paper with my cutest handwriting and took a picture of it so I could post it here. And now the list has been misplaced, and the picture got lost. Our computer recently underwent brain transplant surgery and the camera (where the other copy of this picture was still stored) had to have it’s memory card reformatted. (As far as I can tell the only pictures that are missing are of my projects. Thankfully.) I still know what’s on that list, I kept a draft in my phone so I can look at it whenever I want to, I am not going to blog about it until either the actual cute pink graph paper list or the photo of the list turn up. I am betting Creamie took that list and added it to one of her stacks of art projects that are piling up around the house. Time to clean those up I guess.
(Yes, you are right. Creamie looks so much like us that it sometimes makes my parents and older brothers do a double take.)
So, I guess the thing about birthday’s is that they come and go. And most of the time you don’t actually feel any different. But next year, when I have hopefully checked a few of those things off my #30 Bucket List I hope to feel good about it. I’ve already started on the first thing. Learn to crochet. I made Creamie a blue washcloth (she loves using one in the tub and blue is her favorite color). It started out square. Which was pretty awesome in my book. And then I washed it and it is no longer square, but didn’t unravel. So I am still counting it as a win. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Also, Happy Birthday to my sweet sister Heidi-face. There was a lot of years I was not happy to share today with you. (Most kids don’t have to share a birthday with someone they also share a face with. When you are 3-16 that seems really unfair.) But today, I really wished that we had been able to share the day together. Maybe next year. Love you.
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Heart Shaped Pancakes
Good Morning Friends! I hope your weekend is treating you right, ours has been awesome. Lots of fun food, and a lot of time spent together. Which is pretty perfect any way you slice it. This morning we are going to have a late lazy breakfast and heart shaped pancakes are on the menu. Since Scott will be at work way before any of us wake up on Tuesday, we are celebrating today while we are all home to eat together.
This picture is actually from last year. I don’t always have myself put together enough to have photographic evidence at the time I want to post it. But since we still have the same dishes, use the same syrup, and the same pancakes, I figure it’s just fine.
To make heart shaped (or any other shape) pancakes you can use those fancy pancake molds that you buy at kitchen specialty stores, or you can use any metal cookie cutter. Spray the insides of the cookie cutter well with non stick spray. Put it down on a hot griddle and pour pancake batter inside. When you are ready to turn the pancake over you can remove the cookie cutter. Use tongs! Don’t try and grab it with your fingers because it is HOT. (We should talk about how funny it was when I did that last year…) Flip the pancakes over and cook the other side and tada! Done. Instant happy breakfast.
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Not Your Standard Valentine Cookie
Today’s treat is probably my favorite tradition that didn’t come from my childhood. I’ve been making these for a few years now and most years I deliver them to my friends and neighbors. I don’t ever have myself put together enough to deliver treats at Christmas, but if you give me two months I can usually pull it together. This year? Well it isn’t my best year I suppose. I made a big batch, but more 3/4 of the dough is in my freezer. And I ate a lot of dough and cookies before I ever got to the frosting stage. They were delicious. Sorry neighbors.
I usually call these Butt Cookies. But Booty Cookie would also work. Or you know, whatever else you can come up with. A few tips, if you are delivering to friends and neighbors with children, drop them by while the kids are in school or after they go to bed. And add a few regular hearts for the little ones. I don’t know that you want to give 13 year old boys cookies that look like this…
The good thing is that you can use the same cookie cutter, the same frosting and sprinkles. Awesome. You can use your favorite Sugar Cookie recipe, or whatever other cutout cookie you want. Here’s my mom’s sugar cookie recipe which I love.
Mom’s Sugar Cookies
Sift together
- 4 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 tea salt
- 1 tea baking powder
Add 3/4 cup shortening (I use butter flavored Crisco) and cut in until the mixture resembles pie crust. Which means, cut it in (I use my mixer) until the shortening has been mixed into pea sized pieces. In a separate bowl combine
- 3/4 cups buttermilk
- 1 tea soda (let the buttermilk and soda percolate for a bit until it has risen and turned frothy and bubbly)
- 2 slightly beaten eggs
- 1 tea vanilla
Add the wet stuff to the dry stuff and mix them together until everything is incorporated. On a well floured surface roll dough to 1/4″ thick and cut out. Bake on parchment lined cookie sheets at 400 degrees for 7 minutes. Cookies should be white, not golden or tan.
To go from sweet heart to sassy pants cookie, just cut off the tip of the heart with a metal spatula or a knife before you bake them.
Use frosting and sprinkles to make any kind of underoos you like. In years past I have used red hot heart candies, but I haven’t been able to find them the past few years. I used chocolate sprinkles and perfect pearl sprinkles (which I found at Walmart). I spread on the pink frosting with a knife, and then piped on white lacey trim with a frosting bag and a small tip.
Or you know, make boring hearts. I won’t judge you. Happy Almost Valentine Days!
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Making Valentines
So last Sunday I busted out all the Valentine making supplies so we could make Valentine pockets. Which Creamie loved more than fruitsnacks. Which is kind of saying a lot. Anyway, I left them out so we could do some more V-day crafty projects. She wanted to make Valentines for everyone she knows. But since it takes her about an hour to do each one, we are very slowly working through the list. VERY slowly.
The first one she made was for my dad, who she very often calls Grandpa Sweetheart. She drew a picture of him on it (blue guy in the middle) and then very deliberately added pink shoes. Because “grandpa really likes pink shoes, huh.” While she colored and taped things on I used a black pen to write down what she said about each thing. If it wasn’t a 45 minute process I’d just videotape the whole thing. Because it is seriously funny. Her string of ideas and how she comes to each thing from the last is just such a crackup.
Also, she is totally digging the washi tapes. In just one week she has probably used them more than I have in the 18 months I’ve had them. She is very, um, liberal with the tape. And I of course love the pinks all lined up.
This one was the one she made for my sister Heidi and her new husband. All those orange and green chicken scratches look like a lot of chicken scratches, but they are most definitely words. She has learned all of her letters in the past 5 months of preschool and if I write a word for her she will copy each letter, in a completely random and crazy order, but they are all in there. She is also really into lining things up in rainbow order. and things in a big, medium and baby size. So cute.
We mailed those few Valentines already, and she has requested to make Valentines every day for the rest of her life. This girl is going to be a paper crafter for sure. (Those big red hearts are folded up to make the envelopes. Brilliant really. I didn’t think of it )
Rice Krispy Kisses
I first made these Valentine treats more than 10 years ago. It was a really fast project to do with Creamie last weekend. Hershey Kisses are one of my favorite treats. They are just cute, right? Using an oil funnel (a clean, new one) you can make a much bigger version in no time flat.
First make a batch of Rice Krispy Treats. Melt 3 Tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan and add 4 cups mini marshmallows or 1 10 oz bag of large marshmallows (about 40). Stir constantly till the marshmallows are melted and then stir in 6 cups of Rice Krispy cereal.
Working quickly pack the warm krispy mixture into a new, clean oil funnel. Turn them out on wax paper (or anything else that marshmallows wont stick to) and fill the funnel up again. After they have cooled a bit, but are still a little bit malleable, use your fingers to tuck in any stray krispies around the bottom (large end) of the krispy kiss treat.
When they have completely cooled wrap them in plastic wrap, folding the ends around the bottom. This will keep them fresh a lot longer than if you skip this step. And your little paper strip won’t stick to the marshmallows either. Then add a strip of words or a love note or something and wrap them up inside a square of tinfoil.
Tada, easy peasy. My funnel was about 4 inches tall and one batch of this recipe made about 5 of them. I had completely forgotten that I have a small spice funnel that is only about an inch and a half tall. Next time I’m going to make a few little tiny ones too.
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Lace Applique Tshirt Tutorial
Yesterday afternoon I made this lace applique shirt for Creamie and it turned out even cuter in real life than it did in my mind. I sure do love when that happens. I’ve been thinking about making a shirt like this for a few months after seeing something similar in a children’s boutique for way too many dollars. My version cost less than $5 plus just a little bit of time. My kind of project.
So here’s what I did. I started with a solid colored tshirt and some white lace. I bought mine at Joanns with a coupon. I bought 1/4 yard (which is 9″) so my heart would fill up the front of the shirt. Then you’ll need some ribbon or buttons to embellish and a bit of embroidery floss to stitch around the edge.
I free handed a heart and cut out a template, mine is 8″ wide, but if I was doing it again I’d probably make it a little smaller. Then I traced my heart onto the lace with a disappearing pen and carefully cut it out on the fold.
Then I centered the heart on my shirt, and slipped a piece of cereal box inside so I didn’t pin through both layers. Then I pinned it to death so I wouldn’t stretch or distort my fabric as I sewed. Actually, I probably could have used even more pins than I had. Then I sewed on the inside of the heart about 1/8″ inch from the edge all the way around with white thread. The hardest part was trying to make those curves without stretching the fabric too much. I had to go slow. And I still got a few baby puckers, but such is life.
After I sewed the lace on I embroidered around the edge of the heart with all six strands of floss. I just did a daisy chain stitch because it had less pulling on the fabric than a regular backstitch. I tried a few of the stitches on my machine, but I ended up getting bunchy stretchy results. And I didn’t have any fusible backing to use, so I went with hand embroidery. I am sure this is not technically the correct way to do this, but I don’t care. It worked for me today and I got my craft fix for the afternoon and got photos taken before it got dark. So I count it as a win.
After Creamie wore it for a while some of the lace bits started peeking through my embroidered stitches, and I’m not sure how well it will wash, but I am not too worried about it. I have plenty of lace and a needle and thread if something comes loose. I am prepared for loose threads, if nothing else. Loose threads? You are going down.
I know, loose threads! I think they call that first world problems or something… So she has really started hamming it up for me when I pull out the camera. Like a lot. I am so glad I have so many of her crazy little faces captured. These are the kinds of pictures that I’ll look back on when I’m old and wrinkled and cherish. Or you know, next year when I turn 30. (Thanks for the kind (early) birthday wishes, the big day is next Monday. I am finishing up a list of 30 things to do before I turn 30 that I’ll post. I’ve been making this list for almost a full year already and I hope to have it all finalized by Monday. I am really excited to share my plans!)
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Making Valentine Pockets
Yesterday after church I pulled out a bunch of paper and glue and crayons and some of my washi tape and Creamie and I sat down to make Valentine pockets. When I was growing up we made Valentine pockets every year. They are basically a paper purse, as Creamie called them yesterday, that we would hang on our door and my parents would sneak a surprise in them each night leading up to Valentines day. I have always loved this tradition.
And I don’t ever need an excuse to use washi tape. This morning while I was writing this post Creamie asked me if her surprise tomorrow could be more little tapes. I might have created a washi monster yesterday. Haha!
I don’t remember having an exact start date, we usually made them about a week or a week and a half before Valentines Day. And we never got candy in our pockets, it was always a not sugary surprise. This morning Creamie found a little blue car in hers. Blue is her favorite color and she carries blue things around with her all the time.
Creamie really loves paper crafts. That girl is the happiest with scissors and glue and her rainbow of crayons. The other day I found a blue piece of cardstock glued to her wall behind her door. Yep, glued. She tried to hang it up with the magnets from the fridge, and when that didn’t work she grabbed her gluestick. I just left it there, it was too funny to take down, and I don’t know that I want to see what kind of surprise it leaves on the wall…
To make Valentine pockets each person will need two paper plates, and something to stick them together with. You can staple, or sew them together with yarn, or anything else that will hold those two together. And then add in whatever else you have. Crayons, glue, scraps of paper, washi tape, glitter, sparkly confetti, paper doilies, and a big pile of cutout hearts. See, not an exact science, but a really fun project to do with kids.
So we sat at Scott’s desk yesterday afternoon and cut and glued and crayoned (her word not mine) for 45 minutes or so and it was awesome. I cut out some hearts and a few letter C’s for her to glue on, but the rest of it was all her. I think she is of the mindset that more is definitely better. I think she would have piled things on there all day, but we had to leave for dinner at grandmas. But I think that I’ll make Valentines with her again this week. She had such a good time.
She wrote her name on hers. She gets all the letters in there, a different order everytime, but they are all in there. She always sticks her tongue out when she is concentrating. And writing your name is serious concentrating business. Also, I love how her little knee is up on the table. Better leverage that way.
I cut one of Creamie’s paper plates into a heart shape, which you can kind of see in the lower right picture above. That way you can put stuff in it easily. Then I used a hole punch to make holes and gave Creamie a piece of yarn on a bobby pin so she could sew the two plates together.
Then I punched two more holes in the top and added another piece of yarn to hang her pocket up on her doorknob.
She was really into the washi tape. I think I might have to do more projects with these with her.
We both had our game face on. This gluing is serious stuff you know. I think the most important part with making these is to let your child do whatever they want with what you have laid out. And be prepared to wash glue off the table and out of their hair. I never could have predicted what Creamie’s would look like. And I think it will be fun to compare this first one to the next years. And thanks to digital photography I am pretty sure I’ll have pictures of this process every year.
She was so proud of her creation and so excited to show her finished product to her daddy. And that makes me smile.
And it made her smile too. Like a lot. We are totally doing this again next year, and every other year till she decides she’s too old for treats in a paper Valentine pocket.
