Friday, April 30, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
mornings with bee
every morning, after maiko catches the bus and before eislee wakes up, me and bee get a little quiet time together...
this particular morning i was very sentimental and after sitting there looking at her little cup of milk sitting next to the books she was "reading" i decided i had to take a picture....
Sunday, April 25, 2010
a tea party picnic
she thought it should be a tea party picnic so we made lemon tea, sliced apples, and some blueberry muffins. the muffins were delicious! you can find the recipe here and they are quite healthy with whole wheat flour, oat bran, wheat germ, walnuts, banana, and blueberries.... also, the recipe calls for buttermilk but we didn't have that on hand so we mixed a tablespoon of white vinegar with one cup of milk and let it stand five minutes and voila!
the ducks decided they wanted to join us... one of the great things about having ducks is that it's like living in a duck park... you throw a little muffin out and they come a quacking...
for the birds...
this was a lot of fun... although i don't know how much the birds will enjoy them, they're a little small... but, either way, we had fun making them. we have this reward system going on with the kids for doing schoolwork at home. they get points for the schoolwork they do and extra points for doing it with a good attitude :) they finally reached their fifty point goal which earns them a trip to the swimming pool! i decided to get them these birdhouse kits too, so that they had something special they got the moment they hit their goal (and of course i thought they would be fun for our summer birds that are starting to arrive). it was so fun watching them paint and maiko is so good at the building! they're hanging outside now and i just love the color it adds to the yard! so even if the birds don't use them, i love them :)
Thursday, April 22, 2010
in celebration of earth day...
we picked up garbage in the field next to layla's school (i was so surprised how much garbage there was). afterward they gathered in a circle and played duck, duck, goose. what a bunch of cuties!
layla and her "best friend" chloe :) so sweet.
i have a few earth day goals of my own...
1. start using cloth wipes. i use cloth diapers but never made the wipe switch. this weekend i plan on cutting out some simple flannel squares and zigzag stitching the edges and making this wipe solution (more on that later).
2. start using cloth napkins at mealtime. i think this will be a fun and easy switch, and i honestly think cloth napkins work much better than paper napkins anyway. so this is another thing i plan to cut and hem this weekend.
3. cut way down on the use of plastic, especially plastic that gets disposed of. now i have been working on this one for awhile but one thing i have been having a hard time letting go of is ziplock bags. so i decided for earth day that i'm going to work really hard to cut them out completely (well... except for freezing berries, i haven't come up with an alternative for that yet).
4. and finally water conservation. this is another that we already work on but i feel like we've been letting it slip lately and what a good time to make it a priority again. not to mention as a family of five we use a lot more water than the average family even when we're watching it, so we really need to take that step.
so tell me... what are your goals?
i have a few earth day goals of my own...
1. start using cloth wipes. i use cloth diapers but never made the wipe switch. this weekend i plan on cutting out some simple flannel squares and zigzag stitching the edges and making this wipe solution (more on that later).
2. start using cloth napkins at mealtime. i think this will be a fun and easy switch, and i honestly think cloth napkins work much better than paper napkins anyway. so this is another thing i plan to cut and hem this weekend.
3. cut way down on the use of plastic, especially plastic that gets disposed of. now i have been working on this one for awhile but one thing i have been having a hard time letting go of is ziplock bags. so i decided for earth day that i'm going to work really hard to cut them out completely (well... except for freezing berries, i haven't come up with an alternative for that yet).
4. and finally water conservation. this is another that we already work on but i feel like we've been letting it slip lately and what a good time to make it a priority again. not to mention as a family of five we use a lot more water than the average family even when we're watching it, so we really need to take that step.
so tell me... what are your goals?
is there anything sweeter?
oh how we love baby chicks... you may be thinking, "do you really need more chickens?" no we don't. we are just addicted to baby farm animals. i'm telling you, they are near impossible to pass up in the feed store! so tiny and cute. sigh. but of course then they grow up and start scratching up my flowers and pooping on my porch, this summer i'm sure i will be complaining, "i don't know why we got more chickens, they are sooo messy!"
but for now i will just peek in to their tiny box and pet their sweet little heads and try really really hard not to bring any more home. i'm serious i really have an addiction :)
i do have a pretty good excuse for buying some more this year... i've started selling eggs to some people at layla's school! pretty exciting. the chicks went and visited the kid's classrooms too! lots of fun! well, don't worry these are not the only chick pics you will be seeing... i already have some more on the camera... even cuter than these! promise i'll get them up soon!
Friday, April 16, 2010
photos on the farm
Saturday, April 10, 2010
eating solids
eislee is eating a small variety of food now, she started with some bananas i blended up for her (i made the mistake of blending with a little orange juice and she dosen't seem to be a fan of the tang). i also made her some carrots, i just steamed them until they were soft and ran them through the blender. she likes the carrots a lot. she has had some baby oatmeal mixed with breast milk too. whenever we have butternut squash or sweet potatoes for dinner i usually mash up a bit of that for her. it's pretty exciting! i'm really looking forward to making some of the recipes on this site http://www.nurturebaby.com/
they have lots of baby and toddler recipes, including a great first birthday cake :) i can't believe how fast that's coming up!
they have lots of baby and toddler recipes, including a great first birthday cake :) i can't believe how fast that's coming up!
Friday, April 9, 2010
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