Date Night!

On Saturday night after the babes went to bed Stephen and I had date night. We never plan ahead of time to have a babysitter (I know we really should) but it didn't seem to matter we had a great evening at home together!
We made "real" popcorn. I have always been so attracted to the ease of microwave popcorn that I never gave it a second thought....

That is until recently we came across a Popcorn lady at the North Market in Colombus, OH. We bought a small sample and we made it together for our date night. This was EASY! And FUN!

And Yummy!

  On to a game of Dominoes, I got my butt kicked but it was a wonderful evening!

No More Plastic Bags!

It has been one week since school started. Besides trying to figure out our new schedule I am trying to figure out how to have less waste when it comes to lunch. I finally broke down and bought Sewing Green by Betz White. I had been admiring it for a while and decided that I should just add it to my budget. Anyway, she has a reusable sandwich wrap pattern in the book. I got to thinking and why not find a solution for baggies too. This is my solution...

For the wraps she used a PUL material, polyurethane lined fabric. I do not have any on hand so I lined it with nylon instead. As long as it does not get hot I'm pretty sure this is fine. I used Velcro for the closure. I thought this would be easiest for little hands to open.

Kyra loves them! I made one that she took to school yesterday, when she came home I had the other three to show her. "You made more mommy!"

When sewing I zig zagged around the outside wanting to keep the food as fresh as possible. I hope the nylon will help with this too. I tried one (below) with hemmed edges for a neater look and maybe less thread was used, but it took a lot longer. Plus I liked the others anyway.

The best part is they can go right in the wash! This was a fun and quick project. Besides being environmentally friendly they are economical. Which is always a plus in our home. I may have to make some for my friends!

We are pretty conscious about our plastic bag use, but I would still like to come up with a more Eco friendly way to freeze certain foods.

And She's Off...

Oh the butterflies. No ME! Kyra asked "What are butterflies Mommy?!" I always had butterflies the first day of school and I think they were worse than ever today. Kyra's first day of Kindergarten.
She was so ready and excited!

We all were, Daddy stayed home too!

This is until she stepped on the bus. She got a little shy (I think the butterflies arrived), then the bus driver helped her find a seat and.....

Well, I don't know she's off. Now I guess I know the feeling "It is like sending your child off to Kindergarten." You hope that you have taught her well and that she is going to make the right decisions when you are not around. And patiently wait for her to come home so you can get every detail of the day. Or at least try. I am not expecting too much but I really want to know! Both Stephen and I held it together. That is until we got back inside the house and sat down for a morning snack with Mae, that is when it hit me. I asked Stephen if he had the urge to jump in the car and follow the bus, he did.

Mae is ready to do "anything I want in the craft room, scissors, color, glue" This is what I am super excited about...spending time with Mae. Which is what I am off to do...

Beach Bag

I know, I know summer is almost over, but not quite yet!!!! This is a beach bag I just finished making for my friend, Jen.

At the beginning of the summer I made this one (below) and Jen said she would love a bag like mine. Well, it took me all summer but I finally finished the second beach bag. I like making things for other people. Especially bags, because for some reason that is what I make the most of and they just end up in a pile. So this way it is not ending up in a pile. Someone may actually enjoy it!

I made the new one a little different, I can't decide which one I like better. Both originals. The first one is round on the bottom and the second is more rectangle, easier to make the insert in the rectangle. And more "Beach Bag" looking.

This one has a zipper. I like it a lot, it is a little small to fit towels and also zip up. I love to think of the possibilities. I like that I did something different with this bag because now I can figure out what my next project will be. How will I change it, what will I keep the same?

I like this pattern with the fabric behind the mesh. It is a little tedious but I like the finished product.

Off to the next project....

It's All About the Food

Many, many beans.... I finally got around to freezing some! And saved a few for roasting tonight, yum!

Tomatillo's, this is our first year of growing these. Super neat, I went to check them out yesterday and they had popped. Meaning when a tomatillo is ripe the papers pop open. So I gathered a few and....

Salsa Verde! So yummy, we had nachos last night for dinner!

Basil anyone?! I had a lot of help picking basil today.

I ended up having to make the pesto on my own.

There is an abundance of food in the garden right now. I cannot believe we will be gone next week. Hopefully everything will be patiently waiting for us when we get home!

My Babes Can Sew!

Kyra's new game is to play restaurant. She was taking orders and serving all of us the other day. She even asked me how to spell "closed" so that she could make a sign saying the kitchen is closed. It was very cute. The sign was temporary and starting to rip. So, I thought we could come up with something made for wear and tear. This is Kyra's first real sewing project, we have made a few things together, but I did all the sewing. After minimal instructions she was on her way! Here you see her sewing, yep sewing! I am so excited and very proud of her!

And of course Mae had to have her turn, we did it together. She pulled the needle through for me and put it back in...sometimes. We started and Kyra finished, she loved it.

We finished in our PJ's but what an accomplishment for her. I told her how proud I was and she got this smile...

and said "take more pictures!"

I have a feeling we will have a few sewing projects in the near future!

summertime....

It is truly summer when we have BLT's for dinner. This is the first true garden BLT of our summer. Tomatoes have been scarce due to blight this year. We still have plenty of lettuce but I picked up my CSA share today and received a bag of Arugula, yes Arugula. Bliss on a BLT, oh do I love arugula! Believe me when I say this has been a savored meal. Who knows how many BLT's we will have this summer, hopefully many more! And the cucumber salad, it reminds me of my Grandma Deike. who always had Cucumber Salad in the summer, I will include the recipe. Every summer we would go to the Duck Lake cabin, no scratch that, every chance we got we would go to Grandma Deike's cabin. So many memories, so many memories. Cucumber Salad is just one of them...

My meal of weakness. BLT, Cucumber Salad and of course Potato Chips. I say over and over I would probably be a vegetarian if it weren't for bacon, and mostly this dinner! Did I mention weakness?! I have a follower...

Kyra definitely gets a badge for the "Clean Plate Club" tonight!

And what would summer be without a plate of tomatoes to just to have!!!

Is it possible to be nostalgic for summer already?!

Cucumber Salad

4 cups Cucumbers sliced thin

3 teaspoons coarse salt

1/2 cup sour cream

1 Tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill

fresh ground pepper to taste

Toss sliced cucumbers and salt in colander, let strain for 30 to 60 minutes.

In small bowl mix remaining ingredients.

Combine cucumbers and sour cream mix and serve.