meals on wheels

In my family, if someone has surgery or is sad or god forbid, has lost a loved one--we go into cooking mode. My mom, the best mom in the whole wide world, is having surgery in a week or so, so today I started making "meals on wheels" as she would call them. I made two from scratch pot pies ( one for her, one for us!), 16 hot ham and cheese sandwiches (individually wrapped in foil for easy heating in the oven), chicken is cooked for Chicken Divan and I made a pot of a new soup, Sausage and Corn Chowder. This is from the Tasty Kitchen site, an offshoot of the Pioneer Woman website. That lady is a dynamite and this cooking site is becoming great just like her other features. The soup is really tasty.

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my 2009 coin quilt is

finally done!

I spent time during the Olympics finishing up the binding. I washed it a few days ago. It survived, got good and crinkly but does have a few flaws. That's OK though. I love it. I even took a nap under it one afternoon this week when I was feeling under the weather. The back yellow side is a recycled yellow sheet from our King Size bed, the other half had ripped so I salvaged this one and it is super soft. The grey and blacks were from Hobby Lobby, the two yellows were fat quarters from vintage sheets that I bought on Etsy and the binding is a yellow pin dot. The size is...different. Long and skinny! Once again, this matches nothing in my house (currently) but I just loved the color combo.

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Ann Compton at the Aronoff on Thursday

Of all the speakers on this year's calendar for the Smart Talk series, I know the least about Ann Compton. I think this fact has me most interested in seeing her because clearly there is a lot for me to learn. I just read in her Bio that she has 4 kids. Already I am curious how she has endured this demanding career + family life as I only have 2 children, and a far less demanding career and often find myself wondering if I am pitching or catching!
Tickets are still available for Thursday's show in Cincinnati if you would like to join me. Although I am not 100% sure, I believe coupon code SS2010 will work and save you 10% either online or at the box office. Pin It

self binding blanket

It was not without snafus, but last week I did finish one of these blankets, that I had first seen HERE.

I had to google another set of directions to get the mitred corners right and two of the four are really good. So this blanket is 50% perfect. Now I need someone to gift it to. I also bought fabrics for a boy version so I will have all my bases covered depending on what crops up in that baby department.

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Capture Cincinnati Book

I finally got it in January. The book itself is gorgeous. Totally coffee table worthy. My friend Carla gave me a shout out awhile ago on her blog. Carla had a photo printed too!

Above is my picture inside the book. It is pretty cool to be in here especially when some of the other photos are AWESOME.

And due to my gig over at the Brides Buddy, I recognize some of the other contributors too. Read that post at Brides Buddy. And to buy your own book, visit Joseph Beth Booksellers in Rookwood or order online.

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snow igloo

Child resides inside. Dog jumps from top.

Happy child waving from igloo.

Crazy snow dog watching kids play from his perch. Husband in the far right corner with snowblower at the neighbor's house.

Snow dog turning around to give me, the lady with the clicking black thing, the stink eye.

Folks, it has snowed all.day.long here in the 'burbs of Cincinnati, OH. The 5pm news announced now that it may not stop and 1-3" more inches could pile up overnight. Seriously wondering how many snow days my sanity can shoulder before I snap completely?

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project linus: blankets for haiti DELIVERED

When we arrived, people were streaming out of their cars with blankets in hand. It was very touching.

The girls carried their stacks in as well and a kind volunteer took a picture of the three of us, and I got the one of the girls together.

In the back, volunteers were packing blankets into bags and sucking the air out to make them more compact for shipping.

It appeared that there had been a very good level of participation. I know this chapter's goal was 1000 blankets and I really hope they meet it. I have to say, I did have a moment of fighting back tears as this felt like such a good thing to do and an especially kind thing for my girls to witness.
And here are our blankets amongst many others being readied for shipment.

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project 365: 2010

No, I have not quite finished 2009. There are currently 35 pages uploaded in my 2009 Shutterfly album and I have yet to complete November and December so I am in the home stretch. You can view pages here and here.
I got so excited about using the kit I selected for this year, that I had to set out to work! I am scaling back a bit even from last year, doing only one monthly page. I hope to do more "filler" pages highlighting events and accomplishments though. The kit is from the The Daily Digi and I set up this template with a different background color to alternate each month. The other total bonus? The kit came with a bunch of pre-made quickpages. And...I am going to print 8x8 this year instead of 12x12. Mixing it up.

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valentine water bottles

I made these! Well, not these in the picture but my own set for Shelby's Valentine's party on Friday. Totally adorable and quick. I bought Sam's Member's Mark 10oz bottles at Walmart and they worked out perfectly, just a 1/2" trim required since they are a bit slimmer.

Download them at the Blonde Designs blog. Those ladies are clever, crafty and creative. Oh, these are FREE.

**While posting this, the dog ran straight through the invisible fence. I assume since it is covered by 8+ inches of snow, it was not working. Next thing I know, Olivia is out of sight off after him, Shelby and I are lagging behind and I am screaming like a lunatic and struggling to move briskly through so.much.snow. I can only imagine what my neighbors must be thinking. Fortunately, Olivia tackled the bugger and I grabbed him and carried him home. I have a feeling he knows the taste of freedom now and if I let him out the door, he is going to be like a shot out of a cannon. For any of you on the fence about a dog...I have this advice...they are more work than another child!

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snow day: february edition

While we are not getting nearly as much snow as say the folks in the DC area, it is a lot for us. And the weather forecasters. And the road crews. The school superintendents. Hopefully, the powers that be that can call off church bingo tonight as it just happens to be my turn to take a 4 hour shift...

This is Skipper, notice his legs are seriously clumped with snow. Not sure if there is a way to avoid this? Searching for suggestions to remove those faster and warm him up? Help a pet owner out.

I kinda like the feel of this one, however, I am sure I will not when what it reads comes in the form of an electric bill. Did I mention last month it was $479. Yea. That one hurts.

One crazy kid. Look at the water droplet on her hat. Extreme close up.

Crazy kid #2. Again, lasted in the snow beyond what is a reasonable amount of time. Neighbors were probably considering calling social services.

As for the parents, we both woke up today with sore throats. Ahem, good times. Seems the kids' finally brought us down with their colds, coughs, ear infections and overall funk.

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mission accomplished!

Despite the snowy roads and cold temperature, we did gather at Kacie's yesterday for some blanket making. Above is an assortment of what we made and a quite unflattering photo of me, sitting next to my Mom.

Olivia: rounding corners on a blanket.

Shelby: making fringe like a pro.

We had fun together and felt good about doing something that will matter to others. Olivia, Shelby and I are looking forward to the drop off date next Saturday. If you can support Project Linus, for Haiti, or at any time of the year to help people locally, visit their website ::HERE::.

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tonight, i unearthed some treasures...

I remember loving this photo back then, but now, 3.5 years later, it made me choke up a little.

These were taken by my good friends Amy and Carla in October 2006. The color could not be more perfect. Wow.

This little sassy pants still acts much the same but she sure has grown up a lot in appearance!

I never ordered this one back then but I am going to now. If I get it up on a wall, I can smile each time I walk by instead of when I happen upon it buried on a hard drive. Sigh.

L O V E all of these. So grateful we made the effort. Totally committing to doing this again in the Spring. Ok Clicky Chicks?!

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project linus: blankets for Haiti

I saw a tweet last week about the Cincinnati Chapter of Project Linus aiming to collect 1000 blankets to ship to Haiti. I love this idea b/c my kids can be involved, my Mom, sister and niece can help...and just like I had hoped, everyone got on board. So Saturday, we have plans to meet at my niece's apartment for snacks, drinks and Sugar cupcakes while also making 6 or so blankets.

Yesterday, I went and bought the fabric. The plan is for at least 4 fleece blankets, single ply according to their specs. And I bought fabric to make two flannel blankets as well. I figured I could whip those up early as the others are no sew.

I did get one blanket finished but since I had not sewn in awhile, I encountered some issues. One of the issues being that all my stitches were wonky which I did not realize until I had done two sides. So...after a quick Google search, I realized using the zig zag stitch would be a better choice for flannel. I ripped out the first two hemmed sides and began again.

And it looks like this. Nice and cozy. It is an extremely grey day so the blanket did not photograph as well as I know it could :) I am ready to whip up the second one and am eyeballing all the ideas for finishing off fleece blankets. Who knew so many variations on one theme existed?

The best part is how super excited my kids are. They love the fabric. They love that I sewed the first one. They cannot wait to help on the next blankets. Olivia asked specifically WHO would be doing the delivery of the blankets and was thrilled that she is included. A totally feel good project all.the.way.around.

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Magic Bars

This is a tried and true recipe. It has been around forever and tops my lists of favs. They make me think of my friend Beth because she likes them and my mother in law, because she always makes them at Christmas. I made a batch to share tomorrow for Teacher Appreciation Day as part of Catholic School's Week at my girls' school. I am all about using the butterscotch chips, just so you know: Magic Bar Recipe. Pin It

the modern sick day

True to form, instead of finishing my 2009 photo book, I moved ahead to a 2010 memory. I am so loving these simple, striking templates from Leora Sanford at Little Dreamer. And the rest is from a new collab kit, sweet + tart. I am thinking a lot about shaking it up a bit and returning to doing some layouts for each girl's book. There is just too much new stuff, it is a shame not to use it.

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