Made: Baby Anywhere Chair

This is another project that's been languishing in my mental queue for awhile and I finally was prompted to do it by two things. A friend commented about it on Pinterest, which jogged my memory, and we gave away our big high chair last week. (It wasn't that big in the first place; it was a folding one. We just realized that Piper could sit in the booster seat with the tray on and be just fine. Note for future parents: big high chairs are space hogs and unnecessary.) Without the high chair, having this little thing is handy, especially for travel.

You can see the original here. I followed the instructions pretty exactly for this project, except I wanted to use fabric I had on hand so I used the same fabric for the interior and exterior, instead of contrasting.

Cute, right? There's Velcro in the back so it just wraps around to hold her on the seat.

She's been getting 3 of her top teeth this week, so even though she looks suspicious of it, she really appreciated the cold blueberries in her little mesh thing there.

Linking up to: A Glimpse Inside, Somewhat Simple, and House of Hepworths

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama, {this moment} is a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Theme of the Week: Clouds and Rain

It's been raining here a lot - we seem to be getting a little thunderstorm almost every afternoon.  You wouldn't expect it in the mountains in Georgia, but the climate here almost qualifies as a rain forest based on inches of yearly rainfall.  Anyway, we're learning about rain and clouds this week.  (Also, I am ashamed to say that I knew almost nothing about clouds.  Now, I can at least identify the three main kinds - cirrus, cumulus, and stratus.)

Reading: It looked like Spilt Milk by Shaw, Rain by Stojic, The Cloud Book by DePaola, and Yellow Umbrella by Liu

Music: The Itsy Bitsy Spider and It's a Rainy Day

Art: Puffy Paint Clouds like these from No Time for Flashcards

Science: Ivory Soap Cloud, and Cloud Dough, and some ideas from here

Cloud Dough!

Cadence likes Cloud Dough


Linking up to: Growing a Jeweled Rose, No Time for Flashcards, and I Can Teach My Child

Deal of the Week: CVS Moneymakers!

CVS paid me a $1 to bring this stuff home.  Yep.

I saw on Hip 2 Save yesterday that the Magic Coupon machine at CVS was spitting out some really good coupons - one for free CVS brand children's gummy vitamins and one for $1 off 2 Mars singles candy bars, which are on sale this week at 2 for $1.  Also, the new Starbucks refreshers drinks were 2 for $3 with a $3 ECB reward, so basically free.  I had two $1 off coupons for those as well, so I happily made my way to CVS last night with the girls while Matt was at a meeting.

I got the gummy vitamins coupon the first time I scanned my card, but not the candy bar one.  Even though I didn't say anything about it, the girl at the counter asked me if I had gotten the Mars coupon and then told me to scan my card again.  I got more coupons, this time including one for $2 off CVS brand body wash.  Sounded good.  Turns out their body wash is priced at $2.37 so I got it for .$37.  Not too shabby.

We collected our body wash, vitamins, and drinks and went to the counter.  The girl asked me again about the Mars coupon and I scanned my card again.  (I had no idea you could keep scanning your card and get more coupons.  This is a revelation in my CVS deal quests.)  This time I got it!  Free Dove chocolate!

I paid $2.01 out of pocket and got back $3 in ECBs.  I'm pretty proud of myself!  Also, if you are going to be near a CVS today, go scan your extra care card to see if you get any of those great coupons! 

Reusable swiffer duster!

Y'all.  If you can sew, go make one of these right now.  If you can't sew (I'm looking at you, Mom), I'll make you one!  I've had this little sewing project in the queue (and here, on Pinterest) in my mind for awhile, and I am so glad I finally made it!  We like our little swiffer duster, but I hated buying the refills.  And then throwing them away.  We're tightening our budget belt around here a little bit (looking forward to a possible car purchase in the next couple years, preschool and dance classes for Cadence in the fall, and, hopefully, a nice 10 year anniversary trip for us next spring!), so it was time to bust this project out.

I found some flannel scraps in my stash - this would be a perfect use for an old flannel receiving blanket, pj pants, or sheets.  I used this tutorial, the only change being I used pinking shears to do the cuts.   It was a very quick project.  I did it in pieces, of course, but most of it was completed during Piper's naptime on Friday.

Being that it was pretty pink flannel, Cadence was very eager to do some dusting. She volunteered for this!

Linking up to Your Green Resource at Sorta Crunchy, A Crafty Cook, and Weekend Wrap-Up Party at Tatertots and Jello

A Flash of Genius

Like many people, I have a lot of ideas.  Some better than others.  Some of my worst ideas - "After we move, let's buy a house!" or "Don't worry about directions.  I remember how to get there." 

Today I had a good one!  We had a little adventure yesterday visiting a waterfall (see pics below) and stopped at a local store selling yard art.  We saw these beautiful but uncomfortable swings that Matt mentioned would be cool hanging from the big oak tree in our yard.

 Look at that smile!  Those curls over her ears!  (She's about to get her top two front teeth too!)

Suddenly this morning, I had a flash of genius.  Why not hang the old porch swing languishing in the grass behind the garage from the tree?  We've been trying to make use of this swing for awhile, ever since we lived in the house next door to this one (when this one was empty - before the remodeling began) and we snuck over and stole it.  We tried it on the porch at the last house and I was always too nervous to sit on it.  We thought about putting it on the porch here once we moved, but to have room to actually swing, we wouldn't be able to have anything else on the porch. 

All that said, it works great hanging from the tree.  Matt found some S hooks somewhere and just hooked up the swing chains over a large and sturdy tree branch.   This is terribly exciting.  The big oak means the swing will always be shaded, and there's a nice view of the mountains and the rest of the yard, particularly "play park" where all the girls' play equipment is. 

I can picture us swinging here A LOT while the girls play.  And, swinging here A LOT with the girls.

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama, {this moment} is a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

 

 

Chicken and Cashews in Lettuce Wraps

I have this big fat notebook full of recipes I've pulled from magazines for years now, things that look really, really yummy.  I've resolved to start making some things from that notebook.

So the other day I made this Chicken and Cashews in Lettuce Wraps from Real Simple.  Easy and delicious.   I did stir a little cornstarch into the sauce toward the end because I am not a fun of runny sauces.  Matt and I loved it and Cadence ate some of hers without too much persuasion, so that's really good.  I'll make it again.

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama, {this moment} is a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Busch Gardens

We went to Busch Gardens in Tampa on Saturday as part of our celebration of my in-law's 40th anniversary.  It was hot.  We had fun, but we would have had so much more fun if we had not gone on a Saturday in July.  I went to Busch Gardens a lot when I was a teenager, but I hadn't been there in at least 10 years and they've added so much.  So much, in fact, that we really didn't get to do much of it except the Sesame Street stuff for Cadence.  Which she LOVED.

This is kind of how the day went:

 

Garden Update

The blackberries are ripe!  We lucked out and have some growing in our yard.   I already made my yummy blackberry coffee cake recipe (I halve this recipe from Real Simple and bake it in a loaf pan).  I've been going out in the yard every morning and evening to pick any that are ready before the birds get them. 

I finally pulled out all the lettuce and kale last week, and the cabbage and broccoli the week before that.  Next year, someone please remind me not to bother with them (the cabbage and broccoli).  They weren't doing well, and then they got cabbage worms, and it was a lot of waste of time and worry for me. 

The tomatoes are going nuts!  And I've gotten two zucchini so far.  Waiting to see how the peppers, cukes, and pumpkins do...

By far, the garden winners so far have been the peas, spinach, and lettuce.  The carrots and kale did all right.  I'll try all those again next year.

As this publishes, I'm actually out of town again to a reunion with my 5 roomies, and 1 honorary roomie, from my senior year in college.  Then going from there to celebrate my in-laws 40th wedding anniversary.  I've got to convince Matt to take care of my plants and pick the zucchini and blackberries while I'm gone.