birthday meal

I got to cook my birthday meal. Hubby offered to take me out for a birthday treat, but if you've ever taken a 3 year old and a 5 year old out to dinner, you know it's no treat.  Seafood is my favorite so that's what we had. 

I've been missing our favorite FL restaurant. They had the best she crab soup.  Here's something close:

She Crab Soup

4 oz butter

4 T four

32 oz half and half

8 oz milk

1 pound lump crab meat

2 oz she crab roe

1 t Worcestershire sauce

dash hot pepper sauce

1/4 t mace

1 1/2 t salt

4 oz dry sherry

In a heavy saucepan, cook butter and flour over med heat for 5 minutes.  Add half and half and milk.  Turn heat to low and cook until mixture simmers and thickens.  Add crab meat and roe, Worcestershire, hot pepper, mace, salt.  Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.  Pour 1/2 ounce sherry into each bowl.  Ladle in soup.   (I didn't have any mace... don't even know what it is.  Also, hubby and I did a little experiment with the sherry and it did make a tasty difference)

We also had cheddar garlic biscuits

1 c flour

2 t bkg powder

1/4 t cream of tarter

1/4 t salt

1/4 t sugar

1/4 butter (cold)

1/3 c milk

cheddar cheese

1 1/2 t garlic powder

Mix dry ingredients and stir well.  Add cut up butter.  I use two table knives and cut the butter into the flour. I think there is also a pastry tool to do this, but I don't have one.  When the butter is in pea sized pieces, add milk.  Knead gently and roll and cut out.  If adding the garlic and cheese do so while kneading.  Bake 10-12 minutes at 450 degrees. 

I also made popcorn shrimp for hubby and fish for the kids and crab cakes for me.  We had lemon squares for dessert, although we didn't have room for them.  They got eaten anyway.  I spent almost 2 hours in the kitchen work on all of this- no one disturbed me.  It was a happy day.

Valentine outfits

Bee wanted one for those tulle twirly skirts that are everywhere right now.  I told her I would make her one and then we saw a pink skirt and top on clearance and picked it up.   The skirt isn't as layered as I would have made it, but I couldn't pass this up for $5.   It was plain, but I easily spruced it up. 

We made a freezer paper stencil with the letters LVE.  We used purple paint and then a layer of sparkly clear paint.   I cut out a fabric heart using some wonder under and stitched it on for the O.  Bee wanted the heart to have an arrow through it.  I used some embroidery floss and stitched an arrow on.  She sent me back for a longer arrow. 

I added a few fabric yo-yos to the skirt, which she didn't leave on for long.  I also made one for her hair.  

The idea and pattern for Lou's shirt came from Helping Little Hands.

He loved having a boy valentines shirt.  I used her pattern, but painted the windows and wheels by hand instead of cutting them out of the freezer paper stencil.

He's been wearing these pants everytime they are clean.  They fit much better this year.  He says they are comfy on his knees when he plays. 

This shirt is a handme down from a friend.  It the softest t-shirt I've ever seen.  I'm going to have to look into these.

It's today

I've been waiting for today.  Bee bought me these flowers (which I had to pay for, so  not sure how that worked out) to save for today.

It's today. It's my birthday.  The weather was beautiful.  The kids got to play outside in the muddy yard allowing me almost 2 hours to cook dinner!  We had a delicious dinner.  Better than going out!

edited to add: The two sets of flowers are the same, just several days apart.  The white vase came from a garage sale last summer and the blue vase I stole from my mom.  Someone told me it's carnival glass, but I've never looked that up to see.   We let the water dry up and had to really trim the tulip down to revive them, so we had to switch vases. 

edited again:  I googled carnival glass and it's not that.  I looks like  Hobnail Opalescent Fenton Glass in robins egg blue.  What did people do before the internet.  I suppose they got a book. 

I just love them- another crocheted hat

I do just love them... the kids...  and the new hats.   I used the pattern I wrote about earlier this week to make little girl sizes.  First I made the 5-6 year old size for my 5-6 year old.  It was huge (you'll see it at the bottom) This hat is the 3-4 year old size.  I grow big heads at my house, so this was surprising. 

This hat came together in one evening TV vegg session.  Hubby got his paperwork done early (he usually does it after the kids are in bed, so we miss most evenings together) and all we wanted to do was hang out on the couch.  I don't feel so lazy if I have a little hand work project going.

We picked up some tulips at the grocery and Bee and Lou have been all over them.  I keep telling them to leave them alone so they stay pretty.  Lou is certain that Bee's have been in the house since he sees pollen.   

Because I had to make a second hat, I had to pull apart some of an afghan I'm slowly working on.  I've decided it's not that pretty anyway.  It's not going to get finished unless there is a cross country driving trip. 

This is the size large flower on size 3-4.  It's available here at Aesthetic Nest.

Lou seriously wanted in on the flower photography.

Bee's eyes are cracking me up.  She is barely tolerating her brother interrupting this photo shoot.

One of us must have said something to him about being nice or waling away from our photo taking wall.

The first hat (size 5-6 year old) was huge.  It fit me.   A little too big for Bee.

This one was supposed to be for a friend that often gives us bags of hand me down clothes.  She'll be getting the smaller hat and I'll have to make Bee another one.

preschool valentines day activities

It's all hearts and pinky love at preschool this week. The boys said, "Why is it so girly in here?"

Here are the books I used. I really like Love, Ruby Valentine.    How Do I Love You isn't really a Valentines book, but it has a great little lesson on how our parents love us.  I tied it in with how God loves us.  Good days and bad.  My teaching partner was using The day it Rained Hearts later in the week or I might have used that.

This was my favorite of the day.  As the kids came in that morning, I traced their hands on paper.  Later, as the kids came back from the bathroom, I put a heart sticker on each of their fingers.  We sang 10 little red hearts several times.  Then, we helped them place their stickers on their traced fingers.  They took this home and can sing it for their mamas and daddies.

(tune: 10 little Indians)

1 little, 2 little, 3 little red hearts, 

4 little, 5 little, 6 little red hearts,

7 little, 8 little, 9 little red hearts

10 little red hearts wiggling at me. 

(we sang again and wiggled at a neighbor and then at me)

We haven't worked much on rhyming at Preschool, but I thought this would be fun.  I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly they caught on. 

(tune of 5 little ducks)

6 little Valentines I once knew,

all lined up for us to view

but the valentine that I like best,

it is the one that rymes with ______

(bed- red, shoe- blue, stink- pink, brite- white, bean- green, mellow-yellow)

I passed out a heart to each child and then had them bring them to the flannel board one color at a time.  We made a graph out of them.  I asked lots of questions and they did really well with it. 

Here are some of the self directed activities that I set out after snack.   This one is missing numbers and I found it at Musings of me.

Here's a chart I made last year for counting practice and work on one to one correspondence.

Thic kiss counting activity is also from Musings of me. 

I made this valentines bingo for Bee's class party.  We didn't use it at preschool although if my color ink cartridge wasn't almost out I might have printed out enough to use it there too.
 

This tic tac toe is for Bee's party also.  Lou is funny playing tic tac toe, I don't think it would have gone well at preschool.

Here's a graph we did at home.  Candy heart graphing.

Bee's party is Friday and I'm the V-day party organizing mama.  I made a funny cupid for pin the heart on cupid.  I had to add some extra clothes to him this evening.  He was looking a little naked.  I'll have to get a picture of him during the party.

new crochet project... or me dealing with my ADD

I have several projects going right now, I really need to settle in and focus on finishing a few before starting anything new.   I think I have adult onset ADD.  Here's what's been distracting me lately. 

Baby hats.  Jessica at Happy Together shared this same hat and she was so right, it's just so stinking cute.  The pattern is from Aesthetic Nest.

I don't even have any baby girls to give this to right now.  There is still one mystery gender baby coming to a friend.  I'm seriously crossing my fingers that it's a girl.

This is the baby size. Next, I'll be trying the big girl size.

Determined to find one for the boys, I searched and found a basic baby beanie from Imagine.

It's tiny.  so tiny.  I don't thing my big headed babies would have ever fit in this hat.  I had a student in my class have a new baby brother this week and I excitedly wrapped up this tiny guy for him.  He is so dinky, I think it's going to fit.

I think I turned this hat out inside out.  I thought this side was prettier.  This was an easy hat, but did require a stitch marker since it's stitched in a spiral.  It took a few tries to get it all counted out right.

the mystery pirate valentines

I can't believe it.  I found and downloaded a printable online and now I can't find it again.  I don't know where I saw them.  I can't site my source, I can't get anymore. (*problem solved:  Here they are at mer mag-  thanks Carole for your sleuthing skills.) 

I found these adorable pirate valentines somewhere and the kids colored them up.  I sewed on felt heart eye patches.  We attached some candy in wax paper envelopes.   The kids valentines to pass out at school are done.

I think you're grrreat too. 

hearts on a string table runner

I said yesterday that we went to open the valentines decor box and there wasn't one.  The kids worked on some art work and then I started a project too. 

I had spied this  table runner on Joy's Hope  just that morning and was pretty much in love with it.   I used all scraps from the scrap bin and a muslin curtain from the old house.  The cat had clawed a big hole in it, but I saved it anyway.

I forgot that she used different sized hearts when I started mine, so all my hearts are the same size. 

I played around with the placement of the hearts a lot, but settled on simple and tidy.  I had a few hearts leftover and I knew just what I wanted to do with them. 

I finally started making new pillows for the couch.   The pillow forms weren't on sale this week, so I just bought one.  I only had one coupon.  Next week I'll buy another with another coupon.  I made it an envelope style so I can change it out.  It looks plain next to the runner but it's nice to have some hearty seasonal things out. 

The button hole doodad on my machine was going crazy.  Look how long that button hole is.  Good thing it's the back.   

I am linking up at some of these fine parties.