Chats

I'm linking up with Patrice at Everyday Ruralty.

Questions

1. Do you like to drive or be driven?
If my husband is the driver I like to be driven.

2.What's your favorite kind of jam, jelly or preserve?
I love blueberry and black raspberry jam. I don't eat as much as I would like since I've cut out a lot of gluten.

3.Do you have any special plans for this spring or summer?
Not really--just want to get a few projects done around the house

4.Lots of folks are becoming aware of issues with food. There are many articles, books and movies on topics like allergies, GMO, pesticide use, bad or no labeling, over processed food, food from other countries that may not have high standards, and many more topics. What concerns you the most?
We have cut out hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. I would like to be able to afford all organic, but at this time it's not in the budget. We also avoid GMO's and don't buy a lot of processed food. We also try to keep the food dyes to a minimum which isn't always easy. I use to believe that the FDA looked out for us and would never allow certain things or food to be consumed but now I know that's not true, so I try to stay on top of that for our family.
 
5. Do you use nail polish often? Fingers, piggies or both?
When I worked I polished my nails, but now if I polish my nails by the end of the day they would be a mess. So I just do my piggies and usually only in summer.

Cultivate Tour

When I planned this tour, I didn't realize it was Earth Day, I just knew my kids were out of school. We had a fun time at Cultivate. We had a tour and learned all about about what they grow, their CSA (which unfortunately for us is full), where they sell their produce and a ton of other interesting things. Then we helped pull a bed of spinach that had bolted.

That was a long row of spinach but we pulled it all. It was a fun day working in the dirt and an added bonus that it was Earth Day. Did you do anything fun for Earth Day?

Pinned It, Made It! Monday

My sister-in-law asked if I could make a pillowcase for her travel pillow. I used this tutorial so there would be no raw edges. I just measured around the pillow to make sure it would fit, very easy! You should have the coordinating color end piece bigger then what I used. You don't want to know, just know the pulling it through was pretty brutal with the small opening.:-)  

This is the second time I've made these cute headbands. The two pictured above were for a birthday party Amy went too. I was sewing these late at night and when I thought I had one done, I tried to see if it would fit and realized I sewed two back pieces together and they definitively would not fit around anybody's head. So I headed to bed before I could mess them up anymore. The birthday girl will be getting these in the mail.
 
I'm linking up with Tammy at Country Girl at Home.

Knotted Dolls

These twin dolls are now at there new home with twin baby boys, who were born at home. Many wishes of love and happiness to them and their family.


These are one of my favorite gifts to give to new babies. The original pattern used wash clothes but I wanted softer, so I use fleece. I've been thinking about using Minky Dimple Dot next time, just need to get it on sale or with a coupon.

Do you have a favorite gift you make for new babies?

Chats

I'm joining Patrice at Everyday Ruralty today!

Questions
1. Are you part of the back to nature/ecological group or are you more of the mindset "I'll do what I want   and everything will work out in the end"?.
We recycle as much as we can and make all the cleaning supplies we use. We hang our clothes to dry and don't own a dryer much to our daughters dismay. I buy almost all of my clothes from thrift stores or garage sales.  There are other things we do, but that's a start.

2. What's a favorite dinner dish to make?
Favorite fastest is tacos--If my husband is cooking on the grill--steak.

3. What animals have you seen give live birth?
Cats and dogs

4. If you had the opportunity to teach something what would it be?
It would be sewing, crafting, rag quilting, or green cleaning. I already lead meetings for breastfeeding moms, so if I didn't already do that --that would be on my list.

5. What did you love most about school?
The smell of new school supplies, playing with friends, recess and the # 1 thing would be the library. Also coming home to a snack my mom had waiting for us.

Pinned It, Made It! Monday

Last week my plans for dinner was chicken salad but it didn't feel like a chicken salad day, it was a little chilly and a friend had talked about the chicken stew that she had on the stove. I'd been wanting chicken and noodles and it sounded like a good reason to try to make homemade noodles. I of course never follow a recipe all the way. I looked at a lot of different recipes and ended up making this recipe. I added a tablespoon of olive oil to the noodles. I was a little worried after I mixed them up because a couple recipes called for milk or water. The noodles came out and tasted great. I did add a few more spices. This was a recipe my children and husband both liked, so I'll be making this again. I didn't get the noodles rolled as thin as I wanted but they worked. I only used the noodle part of the recipe, I added broth to the pan and used my precooked chicken I had in the freezer along with carrots, onions and garlic. I also want to try gluten free noodles next time.

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole 

This is one of the recipes I looked at but went with this one instead. My changes -- I used chicken I precooked and froze, I also made my own uncanned condensed soup recipe. It smelled wonderful but I didn't get to try since it was for a funeral dinner at church.

This lovely picture is a pan of Congo Bars-- I also made these for a funeral dinner at our church. My mom use to make chocolate chip cookie bars when we were growing up, she also called them blondies. The recipe I used was from Six Sisters' Stuff. The only change I made since I only had one cup of brown sugar was to use 1 cup of white sugar instead of 2 cups of brown sugar.  Yum!

I'm linking up with Tammy at Country Girl at Home!

Mom's Day

                           Kaitlyn with House mom Carol

It's hard to believe this is the 3rd year for celebrating Mom's Day at Kappa Delta with Kaitlyn. What happened to my little girl. One more mom's day and her college years will be over (hopefully). For the silent auction, we bought a small Christmas tree at Hobby Lobby when they were marked way down. Kaitlyn painted the purple ornaments and I think her goal was to add the power cat to the black ones, but we just left them plain. I made some of the star ornaments in  K-State material and decided it need a K-State pinwheel for a tree topper. I also made a fleece K-State blanket I forgot to get a full picture of it. I bought a half yard of the K-State fleece print, and a yard of purple fleece, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. I bought another half yard of purple fleece but they didn't match, so I was back to where I started. I drew out a few ideas but was afraid getting the fleece sewed or cut straight would be a problem. So if you're still with me---- I sewed the ends/sides of the purple to the ends/sides of the K-State print--then I folded and sewed and it work!  We had a fun day, brunch was served and afterwards-- Cadence-- an acapella all men's group was the entertainment and they did a great job.(We are big Pitch Perfect fans here) They sang to the house mom.  Joining us this year was Jim's mom and sister, we hit a few stores Kaitlyn wanted to go to, had a nice lunch and then hit the road.