The ladies are doing their thing

The caterpillars are certainly doing their thing. On day 2 we noticed that were getting bigger. On day 3 they were all noticeably bigger. (Here's our first observations)

I had the kids do another observation. Bee is recently adding capital letters in words which is frustrating and a problem I thought we were going to avoid.

The ladies started spending a lot of time upside down in J shapes seemingly getting ready.

Day 6 brought the most dramatic changes yet. Four of our 6 caterpillars are now chrysalis. The other two seem to be hanging in J shapes, which means they are heading that way. More recorded observations were needed.

24 hours after the last caterpillar changes, we move them to the net. We are taking them to the nature center on Friday to share with the children, so I hope they will be ready by then. I feel like they might get bumped around less in the net. Then on Monday, it's back to preschool.

Another lady doing her thing is mama bird. The babies were born Tuesday from what I can tell. I thought I saw her feeding them then, but it wasn't until Wednesday that I saw a wobbly baby bird head to confirm it. Their growth is amazing. If these guys are like last falls babies, they will be out of the nest in 2 weeks. You can see here mama birds beak is right down the babies throat. It's hard to see where mama ends and baby begins. I don't know how many little ones there are. Last nest had 2, so we shall see.

the plasitc bag shirt

This idea is completely , 100% from Filth Wizardy. She has a few posts about using plastic bags to make iron on decals. Here's her first and has all the good info you will need. Here's our go at it.

You need plastic shopping bags with pictures or colors you like, parchment paper, a clothing item needing a little jazz and an iron.

Nosy cat not necessary.

Cut out your picture. This one is to large and you'll see why in a minute.


Place the plastic picture on top of the clothing item. Place parchment paper on top.

Place iron directly on top of parchment paper melting the image onto the shirt. oh wait, that's not supposed to happen.


Apparently this is what happens if the picture is larger than the iron base. It shrivels up crazy like.


New smaller picture ready to go. The iron must really be placed on quickly and evenly.


Then the other secret is that you have to let the whole thing cool before you remove the parchment paper.


We're wearing it to school as soon as it warms up again. Then we'll see how it washes.
That was a fun project with lots of possibilities!

pot holders and aprons and other non domestic stuff

I had the best friends in college! My roommate was my best friend from high school. When we got our room assignments that we were in the honors dorm we were pretty upset (I was not in the honors college but my room mate was- lets get that straight). We were sure to be surrounded by dorks. We both even called housing and begged to be changed. We could not have been more wrong. We met the best people ever. There were about 8 of us who ran around together. Hubby tagged along a lot too! That's been more years ago now than it seems like it should have been and they are still great girls. We are spread out now, several out of state. There are a few added hubbys and a bunch of kids now. This weekend as many of us who could got together for a bridal shower (and bachelorette party!) for one of the gals. I was floored when I went to pick up a gift from the registry and there were no cooking items. That's what I like to buy. She did have kitchen towels on the list so I grabbed those. She's not the most domestic gal, but I was saddened by the lack of kitchen items. I decided to make some up of my own.

After a little sewing consultation with my craft neighbors, I went with an apron and pot holders. These apron pockets turned out looking a lot like the ones from this skirt. There was much discussion about finishing up the edges since I made it one layer thick. I ended up using a piece of twill or ribbonish stuff that actually wrapped up the kitchen towels that I bought myself the same day. Shhh.... They are the same towels we already have, hubby will never know.

These pot holders were super easy. They whipped up in no time. I took a bunch of pictures along the way. I could get a tutorial together.

Here are the backs.

Carole was so kind and offered to monogram the towels. They turned out so cute.

At the shower, she kept opening real kitchen stuff, cooking items, pans, dishes, etc. I'm sure I looked confused. I guess I only checked one of the three places they were registered. I didn't even think of that. Thank goodness she got a lot of kitchen items. I don't have to worry so much anymore.

how to ruin dinner method #36

Great, you're back. You ruined dinner using method 17, 42, and 29. You're going to love method #36. It's a fix it and forget kinda ruin. It's really a method and not a recipe. You can apply this technique to many family favorites.

Today, I'm ruining a whole chicken and chopped vegetables. You can choose a different crock pot meal, but whatever it is make sure you put it in nice and early, by 7 am or so. Make sure to have a busy day. Super busy. Think a lot about how smart you were to put dinner in the crock pot before your day got going.

Here's where the ruin comes in. Plug it in, but give it a little pull. Make sure it's not all the way plugged in. Too far in the plug and you will not ruin your dinner.

9+ hours later and things are perfect. Raw chicken and crunchy fresh vegetables. You ruined dinner. You might as well give the neighbors a call, see what they're having.

garden skirt

So, I'm sure I looked like a goon this evening trying to photograph myself in my backyard without making it look like I was trying to photograph myself. All of our neighbors were out and although I enjoy them tremendously, I prefer not to have an audience when I'm trying to photograph myself. I just end up looking like a goon. Or a vogue fashion model. OK, maybe not.

Anyway, I was trying to take a picture of this new skirt that I made yesterday evening. I had a huge order that needed to go out this morning, so of course, I made a skirt first. The order did make it out and I had a new skirt to wear today, so all ended well.

I picked up the jersey knit on clearance at Joanns months ago and the nice spring weather finally motivated me to get it made up. No sense in having a fun new summer skirt in the dead of winter. I'm calling it the garden skirt because I've been spending so much time in the garden the last few days and it's the green color of all the goof stuff starting to grow in there.

kitchen blahs

I have plans for the kitchen. Big plans. Unfortunately, my friend Dave Ramsey says they are future plans. Very far in the future plans. It's a tiny kitchen, especially in comparison to the size of the rest of the house. It's also laid out so awkwardly. You have to think skinny thoughts as you walk in . The fridge is so close to the cabinet/counter peninsula. I have new pretty white cabinets picked out in a whole new layout. We have a number of additional outlets planned. Who ever heard of a kitchen with 2 outlets? One for the fridge (on the right), and one extra (on the left). Seriously, who planned that out? We have to alternate small appliance on the counter. Hubby's coffee maker got the outlet this day.

This white tile is not cool either. It shows dirt like nothing. I have to mop daily. Who does that?

I can't wait to replace this guy. We do believe he's original. We call him Jr. He is junior sized. I sometimes borrow the neighbors oven. They must think I cook Thanksgiving dinner once a month... they have no idea we just have a junior sized oven.

So those are long range plans. We can manage until then. I am thinking that the lighting fixture would be a simple change that could be worked in the budget. Hubby and I have installed some of our own light fixtures in the past and we fared pretty well. The current light fixture placement wouldn't change in my new 'plans,' so I'm thinking it's a go! I'm looking at this one below.
Or maybe this, or this.

This kitchen (mostly this cook) is getting a little treat soon. I can't wait to tell you all about this new product I'm getting to review. It's also been on my wish list for some time now.

The ladies are here

I heard Bee's teachers talking about ordering caterpillars and it being too late to get them this spring. I went home, hoped on the internet and found that it was not too late for painted ladies. We decided to grab a few. We've been stalking the mail man for days. Thursday they came.

They are kind of fuzzy and pretty much just crawl around and eat the stuff in their cup. They are rather active and spin silk to crawl around on.

I made up some little butterfly observation booklets for the kids and even a few poor neighbor kids who I force my teach'en upon.


I love that the kids don't mind doing a little 'school work' when something cool is involved. I think there will be meal worm observations needed this summer. Those are really cool little guys.

Here's Bee's observations. She even added the poo.

Here's what's coming....

Our ladies are headed to preschool on Friday. I think the plan is to keep them at school most of the week and to share custody on the weekends. Bee is pretty upset and I do have all the neighborhood kids working on their observations, so I have told her that we will make sure we get them at home some too. Plus, I don't want to miss the fun changes.

Caterpillars can be ordered here at Nature's Gift Shop. The kit we bought comes with a net to place them in once they turn to chrysalis. Oh, we can't wait!

in the garden

I used to joke that it's a good thing that I don't have to feed us out of the garden because we'd starve. I'm a wanna be gardener. I have grand plans and good intentions. I just don't know what happens. I feel like this year might be the year I make some growth in this area. Hopefully literally. I have attended a series of workshops at the extension office, read a number of books about gardening and read a ton of stuff online. Apparently, this does not make me a skilled gardener.

I spent numerous hours this past weekend enlarging my 'looks like I buried someone in the backyard' garden. I only this evening found out that the neighbors behind us have a tiller. I did this all by hand. I also aparently did it by shoulders, legs, feet, back and everything else that is still sore.

The sugar snap peas I had planted in the before mentioned portion of the garden are coming up nicely. They are planted by the pole beans and spinach, also showing signs of life.

Now they have some friends. While I started a bunch of seeds inside over a month ago, I ended up needing to buy most of my plants. Maybe next year I'll have more things from seed. Again, I don't know where I'm going wrong here.

I added tomatoes (the only things I've ever grown really well) in several varieties, green peppers, cucumbers, broccoli, and cauliflower. We have strawberries in the front flowerbeds and blueberries closer to the house.

I also updated the compost bins. It was quiet the redo since they were previously a compost pile. Now I have two lovely bins. There is still some debris left in the pile, but my poor legs can't lift another load. Maybe next weekend.

Mama bird watched me suspiciously all weekend. I think she has laid her eggs because she never leaves the nest. Last year she had her babies about the time we moved in, which was in August. I am curious if that means she has two sets a year.... or maybe her first nesting experience last year didn't work out so well and there was time for a redo. I've heard of that.