4 Sweet Sisters

I've had all these plans for great posts, but summer break is finally here (at least for a couple of weeks) and we're trying to actually do some of the things we've been talking about doing. Like staying up late, watching movies, eating slushies, crafting, quilting, cooking, sewing class and acting like girly girls with some paint parties! We hit Chick-f-la 2 times last week (they actually suggested we come back for dinner:0 ). No cooking for a day! We've also given free bowling a whirl. The chickadees have felt like it was their birthdays! So excited about the fun events. I mean where can you live, dress like a cute cow and get food for doing it? The bowling alley employees even took pictures... Just to cute. So here's what I've been up to besides planning the new school year, carting Urban Girl to work , the others to the pool and myself to exercise. Drum Roll Please......bump, bump, bump,bummmmmm......! Ta Da! My 1st Quilt. I'm calling it the Courting Qui...

At last! Yes, it is raining here in our little part of the world. Our neighborhood has been without for apx 2 months. We had nothing to wash all that nasty pollen away! But tonight, as we sat in church it came down. I wanted to run outside to play and dance! It's still raining...thank you Lord. I didn't realize how much I take those little droplets of refreshment for granted, until they were gone for so long... So it's been a couple of days. I thought I show you a bit of what we have been up too! Nothing like a little birdie whistling in a pie. School Girl whipped this tasty apple pie up last night! Gotta love homemade apple filing, so nice to have it on the shelf for whenever. Here's the older two chickadees dismantling our washer and dryer........ Homeschooling at it's finest. School Girl has been itching to get mechanical. They put them all back together and they work great! ;) I'll post about my new best friends at a later dat...

Gifts can mean so many different things to different people. Some think of the fruits of the Spirit or the specific gifts that the Lord gives to each one of us that makes us uniquely different. Other times we may think of monetary gifts, useful gifts, impractical, but oh so fun gifts and even crazy outlandish gifts. Like that crazy claw that massaged your scalp! I think it was called the Octopus. Some of my favorite gifts are the unexpected from children. They want to give with all of their hearts and they usually don't have the means to buy you what they want to give. That can be a really good thing! My little Chef was very cute this Mother's Day and so very excited about the day. She had a count down going on like it was her Birthday or Christmas. Anyway, yesterday she skipped into my room with a card she picked out for me! The day before we had been shopping everywhere for a new washer and dryer (thank you rainy day fund). While we were out she found something that capture...

Okay, I said I wouldn't be here. but here I am! I found a new to me blog that I'm sew excited about!!!!;) Click here for some really cute and usable gift ideas. I've got sew many Christmas ideas just swimming through my head. In fact! Here's a simple and Frugal one! ( I'll post on Frugal Friday). Anyhoooo . What makes it sew frugal you may be asking?? Well, this is left over quilted fabric from the little chickadees bedroom. The quilts were for full/queen size beds. So I cut (you don't know how hard that was to do to a brand new to me quilts) and hemmed the side facing the wall leaving the pretty scallop to dangle over the bed skirt (i guess i should post some pics of that project- but i still have a couple of things to finish up). Then I used a heavy duty grosgrain ribbon for color and durability. Some simple straight stitching ( don't look at my imperfections) and I have a wonderful pool/swim team/ beach bag for all those big,bulky towels! I'm s...

Remember when I said, " Nobody always does it this or that way?" Well I wasn't kidding! This are NO were near are normal diet of delicious organic and raw foods! But the sure are Yummy and Cute! Chocolate Covered Peeps Waaaay to easy to make and very frugal if: you by them on sale or with your ECBs. I wouldn't suggest stocking up for next year( although I doubt they'll go bad- hee hee hee). You can stock up on the dipping chocolate! I did and a little secret "always" put some really good chocolate chips into the dipping chocolate for extra flavor! Basically warm up the chocolate, dip peeps and dry! These are going to field day with us today! I think 1 per child is enough and Moms won't be freaking out:) I do plan on putting them on a nicer platter, but truthfully I don't think the children will mind? Also they are super fast to make, 15 minutes for 30! Check out more great Frugal Friday ideas over at www . lifeasmom . com Also check out this r...

I'm just stopping by.... I have so much trivial and mundane stuff to share, but I just haven't had the time. My real job has been super busy with a Surprise Trip out of state thrown in! So I've been feverishly knitting scarves and crocheting hats ( 1 goal down for the new year!). I crocheted this hat.... not the scarf (target clearance) I did crochet this hat and I knitted this scarf... I've been doing a lot of sewing and school with the chickadees . We pretty much finished my Christmas/Birthday Room which I'm putting off sharing until I get back from the Great White North. Which incidentally we hear will be having a warm snap while we're there! Pray for SNOW !! The other item I wanted to share is the Surprise Baskets for the little chickadees. It's a tradition my Mother started when we were young. Depending on the age of the person you may write notes and/or give tiny gifts to open for the days you are gone. I did this for Superman when he had to trave...

I have so much on my mind today. Some happy and some not so happy. I'll let you in on my thoughts over the next couple of weeks. Be forewarned, it doesn't always come out the way it sounds in my head! But before I go any farther I wanted to share with you a simple project Farmer Girl and I made together. It was her 1st experience with the hot glue gun! Yikes!! We took a simple basket. (The kind that produce comes in and makes you feel like you live in the country and home grow everything.) Then, last summer I happened upon a bed canopy for 70 cents at a thrift store. We used this for the interior. It already had a ruffle so we cut the ruffle off and hot glued it on to the outside of the basket. We then finished it off with pink ribbon, a white button and lots of hot glue. She is very proud of herself. The Little Chef was the happy recipient on Christmas morning. We hope to make bedding now that Farmer Girl has her new Janome Hello Kitty Sewing Machine. Words cannot describe h...

Hello and good morning. I'm taking a break while the chickadees let the chickens get a bit of exercise. Actually, I'm hiding from my pantry that I tore apart........more to come tomorrow on that subject. I wanted to share some of the Christmas gifts I made for my family this year. In the spirit of being frugal (we hope to be out of the pit by this summer!) and wanting to make pretty and usable items. I put on my thinking cap.... okay, okay. I got out my coupons and hit the craft store. In the early spring we had lots of 50% coupons and boy did I use them. Each set cost apx . $7 to make not including the hours I spent making them. Lets just say I have 4 left for the girls hope chest that won't be started for quite awhile! This 1st set was for my now adult niece...she's still a kid to me. Set 2 were given to my mother. She really likes all blue but I thought a splash of color might be nice. Set 3 are for the Bride ~ my little sister. She likes purple. Set 4 were m...

Good morning! It's a wonderful crisp day.....but unfortunately we are in for a hot Christmas. I mean the kind were the girls are wondering if they can go swimming. Ugh... Oh well, I keep trying to remind myself it doesn't matter what the weather is like. What are we celebrating? The weather...I think not! I started a Christmas present for the Little Chef a couple of weeks back and didn't like were it was going. The fabrics were all wrong for what I was making. I was in a conundrum ...what to do? I wanted this project to be whimsical and fun. But I had no moola for it. I prayed as I was walking through my daily activities. Guess What? The Lord directed me to this old duvet cover I had! Yippee ! I just love it when He takes my best offering and goes way beyond whatever I could have come up with! A fun Puppet Theater! I can't wait to try it. I hope she'll let me play and not j...

It starts with a Big Bowl of these..... Oh so sugary sweet and unhealthy! Then add a Little Chef who sees and tastes all the value of this delights. Some patience and perseverance................ Wa La! Christmas Breakfast Necklaces for everyone! Breakfast, do it yourself Christmas presents and a Smile. The Little Chef was very proud of herself. This year she wanted NO help in creating her gifts. Every time someone would walk into or near the kitchen she would start (politely) yelling, "no Peeking, no Looking." This made it very hard as she wanted us to be with her the whole time she was creating! I see crafting and order in her future. Merry, Merry Christmas! Julie

Don't these coconut raspberry tarts look Delicious? Okay, I know I can't fool you! We made these Fires Starters the other night. We actually had everything on hand.... so it was free (ha ha). Oh sooo Frugal (it's frugal friday ya know)! We used: Gulf wax and old candles of varying scents Lightered pine shaving from our big tree (that partially fell on our car a couple years back) Garden twine Muffin papers from the thrift store Muffin tins (preferably old ones) While Superman cut wood the girls and I set to work. We packed the shavings into the muffin papers and added the twine wick between the layers. Then I poured on the melted wax. I'm sure they'll be good enough for me to get a fire started! Superman doesn't need them...he's a Super Hero remember! Here's one of our chicks loading logs. And another stacking. I know it's crazy for where we live, but we do get many nights in the low 40's to upper 30's and having a fireplace makes it oh s...

Hey it's Works for Me Wednesday @ Rocks in My Dryer (check my side bar)! Helloooo . How is everyone this fine morning? I wanted to share a "new family secret" we made. It's calendula cream. It's good for what ails ya! Okay, not everything but certainly a lot of things... Any sort of bite or sting, heat or diaper rash, burns, and a great moisturizer! One of our chick's decided to plant it in her garden last fall. We harvest the leaves and flowers from the plant, then stew them down for a couple of days in organic coconut oil. Add a little beeswax and a pretty can. Wallah ! A wonderful cream for itchy skin. We keep ours in the fridge to preserve the life of the product. It usually last between 8 months and a year. It feels great going on. I've even used it in place of deodorant for a couple of days due to very dry skin. (I've tried all the " odorent " but they all tend to make me itchy after awhile- even the homemade baking soda kind) Sorr...

It's Frugal Friday again! I really enjoy everyone's offerings. Please share your comments and head over to Biblicalwomanhood.com for more great tips. I have it listed in Friends and Interest for your convienece. Have a great weekend and enjoy! I've been anxious to get these up here! This was one of Superman's and my summer projects. We finished just in time for our littlest chickadee's birthday and for use while I'm schooling the rest of the brood. Here's what I found at a local thrift store.... The stove had a sad laminate door on it that someone else had used to repair it. I sanded down both the fridge and stove. I also traced the stove top. Then Superman took over. He did more sanding, replaced the door with scrap wood and cut out a window. So that she can see what's baking. After that it was time to paint! I really wanted red because (for now) it's in my kitchen and it looks great with the other colors in there. Quite Spicy! And I found it in th...