It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World July 6, 2009

My parents are going to be here in just one week… one week from today!!!  Why am I so excited?  Well, besides the fact that my parents happen to be pretty amazing people and I enjoy their company in general, I’m excited because it’s been over a year since I’ve seen them!  One of the downsides to moving across the country is the limited visits from my folks.  When we were living in Idaho, they would drive over every couple of months, but now it’s a bit more complicated traveling. 

So they’re staying at our house, and I’m going to have to get everything ready.  My  mother (bless her heart) loves finding all the things I haven’t cleaned to her standards and “help” me out.  She says it’s her way of blessing me.  Mostly it drives me crazy because with three kids in the house, my standards of cleanliness are not exactly where hers are.  She doesn’t try to be rude about it, and in fact, when I sit and look at it, she is just trying to do exactly what her mother did by helping a mommy out!  Well, I’ve got a list a mile long of walls to wipe down, corners to scrub, and of course the inevitable pile of laundry that needs to be done. 

The problem with all this is that I’ve been sick since this weekend, and now the kids are coming down with it.  How to accomplish so much in such a little time frame? 

The CLOCK method!  That’s right, I’m going to treat my house like it’s a great big clock.  Start at the 12 and work my way around till I get the bottom floor done.  Then it’s upstairs to finish.  I’ve found that if I “work around the clock” I get things done faster and stay on task.  Much as I enjoy making lists, I tend to scamper around the house finishing a project here, starting a project there… the CLOCK method keeps me focused and I tend to finish what I started.  Next time you need to clean your house, or even just a single room, try “working around the clock” and see how fast you go!

Red White and Blueberry Pancakes July 4, 2009

This 4t

th of July, I decided to put on my Suzie Homemaker hat and whip up a batch of delicious Red White and Blueberry Pancakes…

Gather the following and enjoy them any time of the year!

1 box pancake mix (I use the cheapy stuff from walmart)

Vanilla Extract

1 pint fresh blueberries

1 pint fresh strawberries

Sugar

Whipped Cream

 

I like to make two separate syrups, so take two medium saucepans, dump the blueberries and about 3-4 tbl sugar in one (I added a smidge of water too), hull and chop the strawberries and toss them in the second saucepan, again with about 3-4 tbl sugar.  Start them off at about medium high to high heat and stir occasionally.  The berries will start to cook down and the sugar will help create a sweet syrupy liquid (don’t look for it to be thick like maple syrup…  this will be thinner consistency)

Once you get the berries cooked down, turn them down to low and let them sit on the stove top… Time to start the pancakes! 

The reason I like Walmart pancake batter is because it’s inexpensive and can still taste good.  My family doesn’t usually like fluffy pancakes, so I typically water them down to make them thinner, but for this recipe, fluffy is good!  The recipe on the box just calls for adding water, but I always add about a tbl of vanilla extract.  I think it makes the pancakes taste just delicious!

Okay, you’ve made your syrup, flipped your pancakes… now it’s time to assemble them:  Pancake, Blueberry Syrup, Pancake, Strawberry Syrup, Pancake, half strawberry, half blueberry syrup and a nice big dollop of whipped cream on top!  Delicious!!

Please remember, the syrup is still warm/hot off the stove… don’t burn your tongue!

Enjoy this yummy breakfast treat with a glass of milk!

Red White and Blueberry Pancakes

Just a quick note… June 17, 2009

Sorry… I know I haven’t written anything in a while… I promise that by the end of this week there will be a new craft-tastic post!!!

Dental Dismay June 10, 2009

Dentist.

 I bet you shivered just now, didn’t you? (and if you didn’t, check your pulse and make sure you are still breathing)

I HATE dentists.  Well, not dentists as people.  I’m sure most of them are very lovely.  If you are a dentist, in love with a dentist, married to a dentist, or know a dear sweet dentist, I meant nothing personal to any of them.  More specifically, I hate going to the dentist.  Just the gleam of the silver is enough to make me want to puke.  I literally feel my stomach rolling as I write this.  When I was 7 months pregnant I had to have a tooth pulled.  They couldn’t put me under because of my little passenger, and I had to just have a local.  I lay in the chair, shivering, with my earphones pressed tight in my ears… listening to the cd of music we gave to people at my wedding.  I kept turning it up louder and louder, but nothing would drown out the sound.  A single tear (one of those ultra dramatic ones) slid down my cheek and I was to scared to enjoy movie moment!  Well, I obviously survived, but I’ve been dreading any dealings with a dentist since. 

Well, the day has come, but thankfully not for me.  I had to call and make an appointment for my husband today for a “tooth emergency”.  Talking on the phone with the sweet receptionist, I thought I could keep my fear in check.  After all, I wouldn’t be the one sitting in the chair.  I wouldn’t be the one listening to the maniacal laughter as the dentist drilled mercilessly into my precious teeth (okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but please people… I have to be knocked out just to have my teeth cleaned!).  But sure enough, as we were discussing x-rays and fillings, my palms broke out in a cold sweat.  

Dentist.

oooooooooh….. shiver with me now!

Coming soon… June 5, 2009

What is it?  Where can you get it?  Why is it so completely AWESOME!!!  Stay tuned for more information!!!

It’s not about the money June 4, 2009

I am a ball of stress.  I have always been a ball of stress.  No matter the situation, I will find a way to stress about it.  Lately I’ve been stressing about money.  Sound familiar?  I bet you do the same thing from time to time, more so in our current economy.  Gas prices are creeping up again, groceries are more expensive, the rent or mortgage is due.  It is inevitably someone’s birthday, Christmas, anniversary, new baby… there is always something to spend the money on.  How do you sort through what’s important and what can wait?  How do you make the money stretch to the end of the month?  Do you really need that trip to the ice cream shop with the kids?  Why can’t your husband use a little less toilet paper every time he blows his nose?  Can’t we all just learn to love Top Ramen?!  These are the thoughts that race through my mind as payday arrives.  But do you know what?  It doesn’t matter!  NONE OF IT MATTERS!  The money is going to get spent on something.  The bills are going to keep coming.  My husband is still going to use a ridiculous amount of toilet paper to blow his nose.  I can’t change any of that!  What I can change is so simple it’s almost funny.  I can change ME!  I can change my need for tyrannical control over financial situations.  I can stop freaking out about the $10 we spent getting ice cream, because you know what?  That was an AWESOME day with my kids! 

My husband and son

 

My daughter and stepson

Simple Screen Printing June 3, 2009

I’m always trying to find a new (inexpensive) way to craft, and I have fallen in love with the art of screen printing!  I was really intimidated at first… it seemed there were so many materials to buy, so many steps… but then I stumbled upon this post on Instructables.com showing a simple way you can screen print at home with just a few inexpensive items.  Here’s an example of how I made it work for me:

Materials

Materials:           

Pre-washed tee-shirt, onesie, fabric bag whatever!

Mod Podge Glue (find it at craft stores)

Embroidery Hoop

Fine mesh fabric (gauzy curtain fabric or nylons both work)

A pencil

A small paint brush

Fabric paint

Painter’s tape or masking tape

Small piece of folded cardboard (box tops work well for this)

 

1.  Doodle Time!  Some of you may want to print out an image from your computer, but I love doing little drawings.  In this case I took one of my favorite nicknames for my son (Booger) and drew it out on paper.  For this version of screen printing, you don’t want anything to intricate; clean simple lines work best.  I just drew out the word in block print on a piece of white paper. 

2.  Using an embroidery hoop and some cheap curtain fabric, I created a screen.  You can get embroidery hoops at your local craft or fabric store.  make sure you get a size large enough to contain your image, but not too huge.  While you’re getting your embroidery hoop, go back to the clearance fabric section and pick up a yard of gauzy window curtain fabric (this will be enough to make a few screens).  Some people use nylons for this step and that’s fine too, just make sure you have a small mesh fabric.  Stretch your fabric over the inner hoop and then put the outer  hoop on top, secure, tighten and stretch the fabric REALLY TIGHT!  You want it to be really taut. 

3.  Next it’s time to trace the image.  Put your screen face down on the paper, directly on top of the image.  Trace the outline of your image with a pencil.  When I initally wrote out the word Booger, I used thick lines and traced around these.

4.  Get out your Mod Podge!  Turn your screen face up (your image will be backwards) and paint in and around your image, filling up all the negative space (the parts you don’t want the paint to go).  Take your time and make sure you cover it well.  It’s really important to make sure you cover everything you don’t want paint!  If you don’t, you’ll get little dots of paint in places you don’t want and you can’t remove the paint from the shirt.  In my case, I chose to have some tiny spots uncovered because I was going for kind of a “sneezed on”  look.  If you get glue inside your image lines, don’t worry… you can spot fix those areas later. 

5.  Drying time!  If you’ve got other things to do, just set your screen face up somewhere or even hang it on the wall!  If you have no patience (like me) you can use a hair dryer to speed up the process.

6.  After your screen is completely dry, get out your pre-washed tee-shirt and lay it on a table.  Make sure to put newspaper or cardboard inside to prevent paint from leaking through.  Place your screen, fabric side down, on your image (your image should be right side up now).  Double check that you have it right where you want it.  Tape around the image with painter’s tape or masking tape.  This will help keep the paint where you want it.  Weight down your screen if you need to (sometimes I just use the mod podge bottle and a water bottle laying against opposing sides).  Squirt some fabric paint onto the image.  You won’t need a whole lot of paint.  Using a small piece of folded cardboard like a squeegie, spread the paint around the image, making sure to get full coverage!  CAREFULLY lift the screen to reveal the image below!  Remember when I said not to worry if you painted glue where you didn’t want it?  Take a second to dip your paintbrush into the fabric paint and do some spot fixing if you need or want it.

7.  Set the shirt somewhere to dry (check the instructions of the fabric paint… most say 24 hours, but I found 12 is just as effective) and then go rinse off your screen in the sink… give it a good rinse to get all the paint off… and you can use it again!

8.  When you’re done watching paint dry (teehee!) place a piece of paper (paper bags work good) over your image and set your iron to medium-low.  Iron over the image for three to five minutes to heat set it. 

9.  Wear your one-of-a-kind tee-shirt and for pete’s sake… have someone physically restrain you from covering everything in your house with your D.I.Y. screenprints!

"booger" shirt for my son

 

"Ponytail Girl" shirt for my daughter

check out http://www.instructables.com/id/D.I.Y.-Screen-Printing/ for their version of the instructions (plus lots of other cool projects and ideas!)

Back on the horse that threw me June 2, 2009

Okay, so I’ve decided to start writing on my blog again… in fact, I’m picking up a lot of things again.  Getting back to being my crafty self, getting back to being my normal self.  I guess some time off from normalicy is to be expected.  After the loss of the baby we ended up having my stepson come and live with us.  Up until this point, he’s only visited and lived full time with his mom.  It’s been an adjustment for the entire family, but adjustments can be a good thing!  On top of all that, there is less of me to love now.  I’ve been working out every day and have already lost an inch in my waist!  I was listening to some old school “booty” music (as I like to call it) and thinking of my younger, less responsible days.  I wish that weight loss was an instant gratification process, like turning on the tv, but I’m actually motivated to do the work, so that in and of itself is exciting.  Well sports fans, if you’ve been missing my little posts in your life (and I know that you have!) tune in again, because I promise some new stories and thoughts… and even some new crafty bits.  If you just can’t get enough of me, you can now follow me on Twitter (I know what you’re thinking, but I just had to give in finally!!)  Look for me under the username spoonamongforks.

Toodles!

Favorite Words June 2, 2009

Here are some of my favorite words lately:

Lemon, hegemony, booger, tryst, winsome, extrodinary, pleasing, noodle, spatula, reconsider, sympathy, cartographer, insistant, possibility, twinkle, repine, trepidation, crackle, implicate, souse

Grief and Loss March 31, 2009

While the joys of pregnancy are many, the pain and grief associated with miscarriage can be overwhelming.  After going through weeks with no problems, I experienced some bleeding this weekend, and today the doctor was unable to locate a heartbeat.  We are going through the loss of a child.  What do I do now?  I’ve experienced multiple miscarriages in the past (over 5) and although I have two healthy, beautiful children, this loss is a huge blow.  Leaving the doctor’s office today I was faced with a waiting room of happy, pregnant mothers.  I went home to a 4 year old asks “is the baby dead?”  She’s very perceptive, and very sensitive.  I tell her that Jesus is watching our baby for us.  She cries, “We could watch our baby.  Why can’t we take care of it?”  We cry together and have a piece of the cake we baked this weekend.  She sniffles, then smiles and asks if we can play dress up.

I have an empty place now.