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.

granola bars

Finally. Finally. I have stumbled across a granola bar recipe that is healthy, tasty, and stays together. I've tried a few others here and there, and they fall apart like me reading Where the Red Fern Grows. We have a great loose granola recipe we use, but sometimes you need it in handy bar form. 'Maybe,' I though, 'just maybe, this is the one' when I saw this recipe from Little Birdie Secrets . Oh, and it is!

Here's her recipe with the changes we made in parentheses:

Granola Bars (makes about 24 plus extra for nibbling)

2 c oats
3/4 c wheat germ (we also threw in some flax seed meal)
3/4 c sunflower seeds
1 c. chopped nuts (we used sliced almonds)
2/3 c brown sugar (I used a bit less)
1/2 c honey (get it local if you are having some allergy issues for sure!)
4 T butter (or peanut butter- that's what we did)
2 t vanilla
1/2 t salt
8 oz. dried fruit (we used raisins and dried apples)
optional- mini chocolate chips

Toast oats, wheat germ, seeds and nuts in the oven. I think we set the oven for about 250 degrees and left it in the oven on a cookie sheet for about 20 minutes (just while we worked on the rest of the bars). Bring the sugar, butter and honey to a gentle boil. Add vanilla and salt and remove from heat. Pour all ingredients in a large bowl and stir it all up. Press firmly into a parchment paper lined 9x13 pan. If adding chocolate chips, press into the top at this point. We used chopped up Easter chocolate and the pieces just melted over the top of the bars but were still good. When cooled, lift paper out and slice into bar shapes. Wrap each in plastic wrap or parchment paper. We did some in glad press and seal and then ran out and tied the rest in parchment paper and string. We kick it old school here.



I threw ours in the fridge and it really helped them stay firm. Next time we will not use the apple pieces, it made some parts harder to cut straight. These make such a hardy snack and can be made to your liking. This recipe is a keeper for sure!

Lou helped me eat up the leftover crumbs and broken parts. I didn't notice it until this picture, but good grief his hair is getting long enough for another trim. What I wouldn't give for a head of those blond locks!

garage sale finds

Bee and Lou woke up Saturday ready to garage sale. We live just off of a great road. There are many neighborhoods off of this road. We don't have to research where to go, we just head out.

Lou bought a board game for $1 and a bag of golf balls. He only had one dollar. He sometimes goes to pay for something and gets it for free since he's so cute. That was the case with the golf balls. I paid for his shoes- which he calls his hiking boots. They were $2.


Bee's $1 went a long way. She's good with money, as you know. Rabbit stuffed animal- 25 cents, purse- 25 cents, doll- 25 cents, crown- free, Christmas girl bell- free, pink sequin lipstick case- free. We are going to have to have a garage sale ourselves just to off load some of Bee's many purchases.

Here are my finds. Teapot 2$, rose table runner 10 cents, embroidered pillow case 25 cents. The best find of the day might have been a pair of Lou's favorite pants in the next size up, not pictured. Cameo cargo pants from Children's Place in a 3T for 25 cents. Score.

Currently in love with the tea pot.

Also in love with all the blooming things in my yard.

shop for a good cause

I have been waiting to share about my February donated item. The shop is finally up and going and you can see mine and all of the other donated goodies here.

I was contacted by Angie about donating an item for her sisters fund raising website. Her sister in law, Lisa, was diagnosed with Lymphocytic Leukemia one year ago February. Here's Lisa's personal blog. I felt like it was a good place to send my February item. My family have been effected by cancer, as well everyone probably knows someone or has a family member who has had to face that. I certainly pray the best for Lisa and her family.

2 computer questions- possibly a 3rd

Here's the computer question first, 2 questions actually:
I had this previously mentioned virus...(insert the drama and much swearing) anyway, we have now upgraded to windows 7. When I type anything: text in Word, a comment on someones blog, text in my own blog, etc, every few lines I notice that it had skipped me up to previous lines and inserted the typing randomly mid word somewhere else. There is no rhyme or reason as far as I can tell. It goes from mid word in the current sentence to mid word somewhere else. It's super annoying and time consuming to keep an eye on it and fix it when it happens. I am not touching any other buttons or the touch pad.... it just does it. Secondly, I used to use windows photo gallery to edit my pictures. I don't do fancy editing, I just crop and such. The new windows 7 photo gallery does not have a cropping feature that I can see. It is also frustrating. They probably removed it since most people who take lots of pics buy fancy photo editing software. I just crop, there is no reason for a several hundred dollar piece of software. Any ideas?

Anyway, since I am not messing with recent photos, here are some old random pictures from March sitting around.

My quilt is getting much use. We all had nasty colds in March and it got loved (and coughed) on just tons.
Bee is teaching Lou to read. Hopefully he is a good student. -Bee is only pretending to read this book to him, although she probably does know most words by heart. She is actually reading some word families, but not so much in context yet. We are hitting it hard this summer.


Lou is just cute and I thought these pictures were fun. If you are related to me, here's a third question today. Does anyone know the story behind these boxing gloves? I realized recently that I am so much like Bee in that I randomly take things from my mom and think they belong to me. I take antiques and Bee takes jewelry. What's yours is mine,right?


So, somehow I acquired these gloves (by no fault of my own) and don't know the story. They have hung on our coat rack or a nearby door knob for years.


They are certainly a conversation piece. If I can't find the real story, lets make one up. Was there a champion fighter in our family. I'm thinking an immigrant trying to find the American dream. Wait, was that a movie?


If boxing doesn't work out for Lou, he and Bee have this music side gig going.

They are rocking out on the Christmas stage. Lou is finally fitting better into the cords I made last fall.

Thank you in advance if you can answer any of the computer questions, the boxing glove questions, or perhaps have a story I should tell about the gloves!

guest post- Hanky blankey

You met my guest blogger earlier this week with her clever post about bookmarks. Today she is sharing a new item she's sewing and ready to start selling. It's called a Hanky blanky. She's apparently an inspiring entrepreneur. I interviewed her this morning at breakfast.

Mama Bee: How long have you been sewing?
Bee: 12
Mama Bee: days? 12 days?
B: maybe
M: What kind of fabrics do you like to work with?
B: flamingo, princess, zebra, flower
M: How did you get the idea for the Hanky Blanky?
B: My brother has blankys and so I just thought of it.
M: Are the hard to make?
B: No
M: How long does each one take?
B: 1 hour
M: What is your favorite part of making the Hanky Blanky?
B: They are my favorite job.
M: Have you though about selling them?
B: yup
M: How much will you be charging?
B: They used to be $33. Now they are $2.
M: Are they selling better?
B: Oh yes.

M: Do you have an etsy shop.

B: not yet, I need business cards first.
M: Where is your favorite place you like her get your fabrics?
B: Where ever my mom gets her fabrics- I take her scraps.

M: Do you have any projects you are working on for the future?
B: Yes, I'm thinking about painting my fingers and doing some finger stamping art.
M: OK, thanks, that will be enough to write.

B: Can you read it all back to me, I wan to make sure that you got everything?

M: (I read it word for word)

B: yea, that sounds OK.

With out further delay, here is the hanky blanky. Right from my 4 year olds little sewing hands.

She finds a piece of fabric from my scrap box and squares it up with her little sewing scissors (she and Lou are both surprisingly good at cutting. They also both enjoy cutting fabric- which is enough to make a mama proud). She gathers the fabric up at one corner. Then she takes a threaded needle and sews the tip together.

Occasionally she experiments with fleece, which has proven thicker and a little harder to sew by hand. She added a ribbon tag for her brother since he has to have a tag to hold onto.

Here she models the correct holding of a hanky blanky. She insisted that she pose with her thumb in her mouth and laying in bed. "Children will sleep with their Hanky Blanky, so we should take the picture there."

I just love having a sewing friend, or two really. She and Lou love to go through my scrap fabric box and cut fabric and remember what projects they came from. They play in my yarn, they sit on my lap when I'm at my machine. Lou uses the play iron to iron doll clothes. Bee has a children's machine, but it doesn't really sew well, but they both take turns pretending to sew with it. I just love that they show some interest and are content playing in my sewing room with me while I get some much needed work done. Bee may be ready to take over Mama Bee Designs soon.